Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, July 17, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Humility is largely misunderstood. Too many people confuse it with humiliation, which implies shame. Or with submission or poverty (which are actually part of its dictionary definition.) Or we think of humility as belonging to members of religious orders or quiet introverts who don’t want any attention drawn to them. Or we see humility as never getting what we want because we have to focus on taking care of other people all the time.
True humility is none of these things. True humility is simply the state of being one among many. No better and no worse. Not arrogant or self-serving, but neither self-sacrificing to the point of self-harm. Again, here, Paul is betraying his Aristotelian influence, saying that humility requires regarding ourselves as lesser and others better. This is unnecessary and not, in my opinion, in keeping with humility. Humility is the African concept of ubuntu: I am because we are.
Even in Jesus’ humiliation and crucifixion, I do not believe he was motivated by regarding others as better than himself. He was standing with us in our pain, as he still does. He was sacrificing for the purpose of restoring wholeness to all. When one suffers, we all suffer, and so we are called to stand with the suffering even if it takes us out of our comfort. This is how we are to be imitators of Christ’s humility.
It’s not easy. It makes sense why so many people misunderstand the term. The true definition goes against so much of what we’re taught to strive for, so it must be a negative thing. Much could be gained if we could reclaim the idea of humility as the key ingredient to the whole creation’s healing and wholeness.
What does humility mean to me?
![1 Kings 17:1-16 [17-24], God’s Care for the Widow](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56b39b61ab48de92d991a40a/bf37035e-33d5-439f-a0d6-a68b02d0f1bc/24-11-03.jpg)
