Americans are not inclined to practice...
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Americans are not inclined to practice humility. We are reminded of the American proverb "If you don't toot your own horn, no one else will." Employment counselors tell us you might need this attitude in the job search. But Paul tells us it is not a healthy outlook for our spiritual lives. Seventeenth-century French intellectual Blaise Pascal offers a penetrating observation: "Jesus is a God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair" (Pensees, p. 212).
Christian humility is not degrading oneself. As eighteenth-century Anglican priest William Law once put it: "Humility is nothing else but a right judgment of ourselves." It is just appreciating our sinfulness and need for God. Or as famed preacher Rick Warren writes: "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less."
Not thinking of yourself as much opens the way to spend more time on God. This is a healthy lifestyle, one that does not just enhance our spirituality but makes us more creative. Singer Steven Tyler offers this insight in a pointed way: "Humility is really important because it keeps you fresh and new."
A recent breakthrough in educational theory, the Dunning-Kruger effect, finds that people learn best when they do not overestimate their abilities. Besides being good for your faith, a little humility is also good for learning and skill enhancement.
Christian humility is not degrading oneself. As eighteenth-century Anglican priest William Law once put it: "Humility is nothing else but a right judgment of ourselves." It is just appreciating our sinfulness and need for God. Or as famed preacher Rick Warren writes: "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less."
Not thinking of yourself as much opens the way to spend more time on God. This is a healthy lifestyle, one that does not just enhance our spirituality but makes us more creative. Singer Steven Tyler offers this insight in a pointed way: "Humility is really important because it keeps you fresh and new."
A recent breakthrough in educational theory, the Dunning-Kruger effect, finds that people learn best when they do not overestimate their abilities. Besides being good for your faith, a little humility is also good for learning and skill enhancement.
