All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. (NIV)
It is a mistake to think that humility means thinking nothing of yourself, believing you are worth nothing, contribute nothing. It is a mistake to think that humility means you ignore your own strengths and skills and value. Humility is not smearing ashes on our face and wearing dismal sackcloth.
Humility is about recognising that while you are valuable and unique individual, you are not essentially superior to others. You are not the king of the castle. Those who abase themselves or even despise themselves are mistreating a valuable creation of God: themselves. Those who dismiss or downplay their abilities may well fail to enrich and enliven a church or a family which need those abilities.
Beware of being proud of being humble. Beware of that tiresome ‘humility’ which masquerades as shyness. It is often more accurately a sort of self-neglect arising out of some sad childhood experiences.
True humility comes from realising we fall short of the glory of God. True humility comes from our exalting his holiness not demeaning our worth. True humility recognises that we matter, it is just that we are not the only people who matter.