...been thinking about humility...

I've spent a lot of time lately thinking about humility. Humility doesn't get a lot of press these days. It is a hidden attribute and definitely not something you see displayed very often.

I had an interesting interchange recently with one of the most arrogant people I've ever come across - or at least he used language to seem that way. After a couple of rounds of interaction in which he did all in his power to humiliate me and never answered a simple question I asked, I'd had enough. I wrote a couple of paragraphs in which I took a few sarcastic jabs and then proceeded to point out how juvenile he seemed in his use of words. I really wanted to help this guys see how he was coming across.

...and then it dawned on me. Was I really going to get through? Did my sarcastic jabs do anything to help me reach out to him? Did my references to "Jr. High" to describe his attitude have much chance of helping him get better? No, if I really wanted to reach out to him, I needed to respond in humility. It meant I had to do more than use self-deprecating humor. I had to express real humility to him.

In the end, it meant that I had to delete all the trash I had written - thank heaven I hadn't pressed "Send" yet! - and quietly express humility. I simply said, "You didn't answer my question yet :-)" and left it at that. It felt better than anything I had written to him before, and he hasn't responded to me yet.

Do I have a "right" to not be humiliated? No. (Surprise! Oprah probably never pointed that out to you!) I claim to follow Jesus Christ with my life. Look at a couple of things from the Bible about what we can expect if we actually follow Jesus:

Jesus said:
Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. (John 15:20)

Paul wrote:
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.

And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Jesus did have the right to be exalted but he chose to humble himself. If I'm going to follow Him, I'll have to follow in His footsteps. (Not exactly the most profound thing I've ever written, I'll admit! But a profound concept nonetheless!)

How about you? How do you battle against humiliation and humility? I'd love to hear about your journey as well!