| MARCH 2, 2026 -- What does the LORD require of ou but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 4:12
In a previous column I talked about pride. This month I look at the opposite attitude, humility. I am referring to true humility, not the false humility sometimes affected by people as a way of making other people think well of them. True humility means recognizing our dependence upon God for not only our welfare but also our entire being. “In Him we live and move and have our being”, as St. Paul says. As a corollary, we recognize that we also rely upon our fellow human beings and are interdependent on others for support, survival, and well-being.
What are the marks of humble people? According to Marci Ferrell (online blog: Ten characteristics of Humility): They trust in the sovereignty of God; they are thankful people; they are in awe of God’s goodness and grace towards them; they can rejoice with others; they practice unity with others; they are not wise in their own eyes; they forgive quickly because they have been forgiven much; they have a teachable spirit [they understand that they do not know everything and can learn much from others by listening]; they build others up; and they have servant’s hearts.
Do I just decide to be humble and therefore become humble? It doesn’t quite work that way. Instead it is usually a response to external circumstances that allows true humility to appear. It is when faced by trials that we learn that humility is perhaps the first step necessary to dealing with the crisis. Those of you familiar with the Twelve Steps program of Alcoholics Anonymous will remember that the first two steps for recovery from addiction were to admit to being powerless and turning to a power greater than ourselves to restore us. The same process applies to any crisis. Admit that we cannot handle all outside problems by ourselves but that we need to rely on God to help us, that God is the one in charge, not we ourselves.
Once we recognize God’s sovereignty, then it becomes easier for us to work on the other characteristics of humility, especially those involving our interactions with the rest of humanity.
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