I greet you all in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I pray that the Holy Spirit becomes our teacher as we go through this topic.
In Sierra Leone, I have been hearing our people, both young and old, laments “I prefer dying proud in my poverty….”
In our environment, we see how most of us could become so proud that we would never take responsibility of our wrongs and seek to say ‘sorry’.
And over and over again, we have seen how such pride has led the great to fall.
Now, let’s see what the Bible says about pride and humility…
Proverbs 11:12: When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.
1 Peter 5:5: Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Our local setting sees humility as a weakness, and pride as a virtue and strength.
However, the Christian tradition unequivocally affirms that humility is a virtue. Christians did not invent humility as a virtue ― it is there in the Hebrew scriptures already ― but Christian scripture and subsequent Christian thought put humility at the centre of the moral life in an unprecedented way.
God develops humility in us through the gospel by presenting the humiliation of Christ to us. He also develops humility through the gospel by pointing out the greatness of our sins, revealing Himself and His holiness to us so that we can see the blackness of our sin in objective terms.
Brethrens in the ministry of ILF, real humility enables people to see real limits and accept others as their equal, or even their superior, in any given situation.
Humility is needed to lead because it helps us to trust — have faith— in others to do the work they have the potential to do.
The following are the attributes of Healthy Humility:
- They acknowledge they don’t have it all together…
- They know the difference between self-confidence and pride…
- They seek to add value to others…
- They take responsibility for their actions…
- They understand the shadow side of success…
- They are filled with gratitude for what they have.
As a partner in ILF,
- How humble can we become to effect change in our community service?
- What are the things we do, either consciously or unconsciously, that may constitute pride or humility?
