Have a humble opinion of yourself. Megalomania is worse than inferiority complex. Choose to be humble rather than great. A real great person is humble in his own eyes. Humility is the beginning of true intelligence. If you think you have a fair knowledge and understanding of subjects, let me remind you that there are many more of which you know nothing. Knowledge is deeper than the sea, and wisdom is greater than the ocean. Man can only have knowledge as a drop of water compared to the vastness of the ocean. Therefore, let no one be proud and say “I learned much and I am wise”. He who knows things is learned. He who knows himself is wise. A person who thinks he knows everything has the most to learn. Ignorant people don’t know that they don’t know. To know that you don’t know is the first step towards knowing what you should know. He who knows and knows that he knows is wise, follow him. He who does not know and does not know that he does not know is a fool, shun him. He who knows but does not know that he knows is asleep, wake him. He who does not know and knows that he does not know, is a child, teach him. Perfection is found in accepting your imperfection. The most knowledgeable among us are also the most humble, for true knowledge is conscious of its ignorance. One is a child in what he does not know. But be a growing child.
Someone had described education as a continuous discovery of our ignorance. A proud man gets no further because he thinks he is already there. A person is not as empty as when he is full of himself. Always remember that you do not know everything. There are great and mighty (wonderful and marvelous) things you do not know. Academic megalomaniacs think they know all. If they still have enough health left in them, they will soon realize that they are not healthy. Earned degree is not wisdom. If you are operating with only the wisdom of this world, you are a foolish wise man. Humility helps you to learn from everyone, from one you may learn what to do while from another you learn what not to do. Every day is a classroom, every experience a lesson, and everyone we meet a teacher. The more we learn, the more we discover how ignorant we were. The world is made round so that we would never be able to see too far down the road. Life is a journey of discovery. Even in spiritual pursuit, I have found out that the more I learn, the more empty I feel; the more I eat, the hungrier I become. Take heed when you think you stand lest you fall. In this life you can fall from any level. Life is a mystery beyond our explanation. It has no arithmetic formula. The unexpected can happen at any time. It is not given to man to remove the veil that hides the future. Beware! Most men fall after a victory. A person does not fall because he is weak, but because he thinks that he is strong. It is a pity that fools will not say wisely what wise men do foolishly, for since the wits of the fools have been silenced, the foolery of the wise makes a great show. But a wise man can avoid a public display of foolishness abounding in him by learning from a fool. This is the beauty of humility – averting opprobrium and odium. A lion may not need a goat’s approbation for its actions but it will learn much from the goat if it bends low. Blessed are the hearts that can bend, they shall not be broken. A goat that refuses to bend low will not suck it’s mother’s breast. If we possess humility, we shall rise above slights, rebuffs and the annoyances to which we are daily exposed, and they will cease to cast a gloom over our spirit. Adulation nor affront will not harm us.
One great danger is that the proud do not know that they are proud. Pride is the hardest enemy to notice. It hides in the man. The belief that you are not proud is sometimes pride itself. Very few of us are free from pride of some sort, and there is no more objectionable form of pride than pride in being humble. Sometimes that form of pride creeps in when every other form of pride has been driven out. If you are good in giving people advice, especially if your advice is usually effective, you should be careful because those who are good in giving advice are bad in taking it. This is because of the pride that comes from knowing that you know. This also leads to failure in life. It is not always good for a doctor to doctor himself. Allow others to advice you.
It is good that we have to face difficulties and oppositions from time to time, because it brings us back to ourselves. Accept whatever happens to you; even if you suffer humiliation, be patient. Gold is tested by fire and human character is tested in the furnace of humiliation. It is not an achievement to live peacefully with good and gentle people. Naturally everyone can do that. Negative and arrogant people are used to teach, humble and make us to develop gentleness. Everyone desires peace but not everyone cares for the things that bring peace. Confidence without humility leads to arrogance. Gentleness helps you to make your point without making an enemy. No one has a harder struggle than the man who is struggling to overcome himself. There are three people living in each of us:- the one we think we are; the one other people think we are and the one our Creator knows we are. Praise does not make you holier than you are or blame more wicked. You are exactly what you are. Do not be deceived by the earthly system that exalts earthly people who are rewarded for earthly accomplishments. It is all vanity. In worldly business, compensation is given according to work accomplished. It is not so in divine service. It is not the amount of labour performed or its visible results, but the spirit in which the work was done makes it of value to the Creator. He regards the work done in the simplicity of faith and love, however short or humble our service may be. Good work done in pride offends The Holy Father.
Do not exult on a well-formed beautiful body, for it takes only a little sickness to spoil or shatter it. Your body is nothing but a breakable clay pot. The glory that men give or receive never last for long, for the glory of this world is always linked with sorrow. All men are as grass and their glories as the flowers of the field, the grass withers and the glories fade away. The withered leaf falls under the tree to serve as a warning to the green leaves of an impending and unavoidable danger. Life saved is death deferred. We will all die and become like water spilled on the ground which cannot be gathered up again. Whatever you are and whatever you do, always remember that you will one day die. In the beginning it was decreed, “you shall surely die”.
If you think that we cannot do without you; you are advised to put your hand into basin of water, and then remove it. You will realize that the removal of your hand created no vacuum in the water. That is exactly how it will be when you are removed from this world. This world was complete before you came into it and will continue to be without you. There is in man a disposition to esteem himself more highly than his brother, and to seek the highest place, and often this results in evil surmising and bitterness of spirit. In the kingdom of heaven, the principle of preference and supremacy has no place. The only greatness is the greatness of humility. The only distinction is found in devotion to the service of others. Do not over estimate your abilities. No person is indispensable; when he is not there a better person may emerge. In electricity, neither the positive nor the negative wire is more important. Even though petrol is more costly, yet it is only as important as water in the operation of car engine. And the front tyre is not more important than the back tyre. If anyone thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he is deceiving himself. About the Son of the Highest, it is written: HE HUMBLED HIMSELF. Human race loves those who are willing to subject to them. You can make yourself acceptable to them by appearing to be inferior rather than superior. Act like you cannot afford a loaf of bread until they find out you own the bakery. Have more than you show, speak less than you know.
Endeavour to have a humble opinion of yourself. If you don’t humble yourself you will be humbled. A truly humble person does not think himself little, rather he thinks little of himself. Anyone who exalts himself, feeling that he is a necessity for the success of divine plan, will be set aside. We do not understand the nature of the kingdom of the Messiah, and this ignorance is the cause of contention among us. On earth, dominion is the price of the strongest, but in divine order the more of a servant you are, the more your greatness in the kingdom. “For even the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve”. Our selfish ambition is in painful contrast to the unselfish love of the Son of man, who clothed His divinity with humanity to save the world. Pride is always the result of comparing oneself with others; Especially when we think we are doing better than them. If others around us are obviously better than us, we would never feel proud. Basically, pride is simply a show that we feel sufficient within ourselves. That we do not need others, and this hinders good relationship.
Always remember that respect is a two way traffic. You must respect those who respect you. Everyone has a right, even the dog in your house. A sparrow is king in its nest. Respect is not a right tied to age; It is reciprocal. If the respected fails to respect those who respect him, he will soon loose the respect. Everybody likes a compliment. An insult to a creature is an insult to the Creator. Everyone may not be good, but there is something good in everyone. Never undermine anyone; for everyone is given by his creator something that other people do not have. Those members of the body which seems weaker are necessary. To be interesting to people, be interested in them. Good manners are made up of petty sacrifices. If you will be cherished when you are old, be courteous while you are young. The beauty of old people is in their benignity; the good name they have built over the years. To have a good name means there is something about your character worthy of praise. A man’s real character is exposed when he is in power; be it political or financial power. Nature says; “the higher you go, the cooler it becomes”. Let your character conform to this. A man looses nothing by natural friendliness with those who serve him. A mistake or failure that makes you humble is better than an achievement that makes you proud. The more influence you have, the greater the danger that you will be in; the danger of pride and falling. It is safer to submit to authority than to exercise it. Blessed is he who exercises it in the fear of his Maker and love of his fellow men. Pride caused the first fall of man. He wanted to be like the Most High. He saw that the tree was ‘a tree desirable to make one wise’ and he ate what was forbidden. Seeking influence and authority prematurely is destructive. In this life, you can fall from any level. From success to failure is one step. From failure to success is a long journey. Falling from a tree is easier and faster than climbing it.
One of the surest marks of a good and humble character is the ability to accept personal criticism without malice to the one who gives it. All great men get great criticism. Criticism is like medication. It helps to put our ego under check. But it should not be overdone. When given in a positive way and in the right dosage, it can work wonders. If a reproof will be effective, it must be spoken in love. Bitterness in the heart makes it ineffective or even destructive. In correcting or criticizing, beginning with praise is like dentist who begins his work with anesthetic. The patient still gets a drilling but the anesthetic is pain-killing. Almost everyone in the ministry must endure considerable rejection and misunderstanding. When you make your mark in life, you will always attract erasers. No great leader is free from misunderstanding. This calls for meekness. He is not fit to be a leader who has not run the gauntlet of contempt. Praise intoxicates if it be not preceded by abuse. People who rise to eminence without struggle usually fall into dishonor.
Pride is very destructive. It hides in the man and warps his judgment. It makes him think, “without me they cannot…”. Pride will make you to judge so many people and so many situations wrongly. You will not be able to see very well without humility. Pride and envy close the door against the light. Regardless of what we call our opposition, the basic reason for most of it is jealousy which depicts pride. Let no one deceive himself. If anyone seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with the Creator. Those who know the Creator will be humble, those who know themselves cannot be proud. It is a self-evident truth that every man at his best state is but vapour. Surely, every man walks about like a shadow; surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, and does not know who will gather them. All that are in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life are but vain glory. Do you not know this of old, since man was placed on earth: That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment? Though his haughtiness mounts up to the heavens, and his head reaches to the clouds, yet he will perish forever like his own refuse; those who have seen him will say, “where is he”? He will fly away like a dream, and not be found; yes, he will be chased away like a vision of the night. The eye that saw him will see him no more, nor will his place behold him anymore. Yet a little while the wicked shall be no more.
Man under the power of death looks no worthier than an animal. When a person dies, all he possesses are worms, flies and maggots. And the most certain thing in the world is death. The Most High gives His grace only to the humble. Unless we are seeing through the eyes of divine love, we are not seeing clearly, and we will not interpret what we see accurately. Pride will make you to fight everyone who does not see everything just the way you do.
Grace compels you to concur that you are bad. Just as no inverted cup can receive water, no proud person can receive the grace that brings salvation because it requires a humbling act on our part. Humility is the strength of the soul. The Most High pours His blessings only into the vessels He finds empty. One must yield his ideas in order to receive wisdom from heaven. It is only the humble that understands that the Creator is not a Methodist. He can do anything, anytime, anywhere, anyhow and for anybody. He does not follow precedents. Be humble that you may see clearly. Let not, “is this not the carpenter’s Son”, keep you from feasting upon the grace of our merciful Saviour, as it did to the people of Nazareth.
We cannot control the Holy Spirit to make Him work according to our rules and patterns, but the descendants of the Pharisees think they can pour Him into their mould. We human beings possess the greatest defects, which is, we tend to measure the Creator’s heart by our own. Our human heart is one of law, not one of grace. We always imagine our Creator as having a heart like ours, hence we misunderstand Him. Have love, be full of grace, be humble. Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power, whether political or financial power. Do nothing for the sake of politics or history. Live for what is recorded in heaven. This world is a dressing room for eternity. The more people praise you and the more you accept the praise the more you drift from the path of life. Anything you say or do to exalt yourself will one day bring you terrible humiliation. A conceited man will soon go out of breath in blowing his own trumpet. Truly, it has been said that, one cannot talk long about “self” without becoming vain. In all your gettings, get wisdom. Knowledge is good but wisdom is better. Knowledge changes but wisdom is eternal. If you know Hebrew, Greek and Latin, do not put them where Pilate did; at the head of the King of the Jews. Put them at His feet. Lay your life and all you are at His feet. What a heart-ease is the virtue of humility –the great joy of having nothing to lose and to shine in the adornment of a meek and quiet spirit. Any life that will be useful in the work of the kingdom of heaven must first fall to the ground and die. Try and put pride to an end in your ministry before it puts your ministry to an end. Save yourself from the evil spirit of self promotion. If you are rich, let your money be in your pocket, not in your brain. Don’t be a mammoniac. It is true somehow that: there is no bridge money cannot cross; but it has no power on the day of death. Concerning your view of life; your beliefs, speeches and actions, it is good if you will sometimes pause and ask yourself the question: “What if I am wrong?” This also is a form of humility. The proud does not believe he can be wrong. Pride encourages us to hide our stupidity instead of admitting it. If you make a mistake and fail to take correction, you are making another mistake. He who divested Himself of the glory he had with the Father before the world began, will not hesitate to take away from his saint anything that will lead to pride and destruction. That which we have idolized shall either be broken from us or we shall be broken from it.
Man is vulnerable to any small stimulus to pride. He is always tempted to gloat secretly because of recognition. The merciful Father therefore gives “thorn in the flesh” to some of His servants to save them from exploding. The sands of time are strewn with the wrecks of the broken lives of many who were once mightily used of the Almighty, but who suffered shipwreck upon the rock of spiritual pride. Our Father works to reduce us; that is, our ego. The “clay pot” He has broken holds more water of life than the unbroken ones. He clothes only those He had stripped. His strength is made perfect in weakness, that the excellence of power may be of Him and not of us. If you humble yourself, our Creator will exalt you. But if you exalt yourself which is his job, he will then do your own job which is to humble you. Self must be dethroned, and pride humbled, if we would know the glory of the spiritual kingdom.
LEARN TO GROW DOWN AFTER YOU HAVE GROWN UP
-BKC YAHKA
Be Humble Or Be Humbled
