Humility is not Degrading

I'm very aware of my tendency to judge people. I'm aware of my tendency to think that I know best, and therefore, everyone else should listen to me and do what I say. I'm aware that I tend to get jealous when I think other people are getting the attention that I want.

But y'know what? I'm aware, and with God's help, I'm working on it. Because the Lord knows that I need a fresh dose of humility every day.

I used to think that in order to humble myself, I had to continually remind myself that I was wrong, that I needed to get over myself, that I was a horrible human being that needed to keep quiet so that I would stop doing things wrong. I was constantly degrading myself in my attempts to keep myself humble. I became depressed, and I began to be convinced that I really was a person that wasn't worth all the effort of being loved, because I constantly failed.

Jesus humbled Himself, "taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men." (Philippians 2:7b) Jesus was perfect, right? So since He was pure, blameless, He certainly didn't need to be humbled because of imperfections. So apparently, in order to be humble, you don't need to be doing wrong things. According to Jesus' example, humility doesn't come from doing wrong things, but from doing the right things.

My problem was that I was looking only at what I was doing wrong. Yes, we need to be aware. But being aware of our imperfections is what makes us ready for God's perfections to work in our lives. Yes, we mess up. Yes, we need to realize that we mess up. But we need to keep our eyes on the things above, because God, through His Son Jesus, is the only one that can take our imperfections and turn us into something beautiful. It's not us. It's all Him.

Humility isn't about your wrongs. It's about what God has made right. Humility is recognizing that you're a sinner, and that you mess up, but not dwelling on the fact. Concentrating on your wrongs is nearly as selfish as concentrating on what you're doing right. I believe that what we need to do for humility is not focus on ourselves at all. Focus on Jesus, and what He's done for us. Focus on God the Father, and His love for us. And focus on others, and God's love for them. You're no better than them, and no worse than them. We're all sinners, and we all mess up. But treat them as better than yourself, as Jesus did, when He came to earth as a bondservant. Because our job here on earth isn't to focus on our sins, but to strive to be holy, as Christ is holy, and to be ambassadors for the One who created us.

"Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." —James 4:10

Once you've accepted Jesus, you're God's priceless treasure, and nothing can separate you from Him. His Son's blood has cleansed you. All your sins have been washed away. Humble yourselves, y'all, and live like you're loved.