I’m always coming up with questions about humility because humility doesn’t come easily to me; and yet I desperately want it.
Here are some posed by Amy Carmichael, a missionary in Sound India from 1895-1951.
“Humiliation: Do we like to be praised? Do we find it difficult if mistakes are shown? Which matters most to us—that the work should be well done or that people should know that we did that work? Is our “I” in the dust?”
If this were a test, I’d flunk. I want to be praised. I don’t want my mistakes to show, even to myself. It is important to me that people know I did the work, especially when it is well done. I let my “I” shine whenever and wherever I can.
A friend who practices Buddhism told me that it’s good for people to know of our good work because it will inspire them. I wanted to agree with him but in my heart of hearts I didn’t feel humble about it, even as I knew that that could be true.
My personality is split because in my heart of hearts I also know that any good I have is grace. If I could bring the two together, my life might not look different, but I know it would feel different and be different. Humility trumping pride. That’s my prayer.
Here are some posed by Amy Carmichael, a missionary in Sound India from 1895-1951.
“Humiliation: Do we like to be praised? Do we find it difficult if mistakes are shown? Which matters most to us—that the work should be well done or that people should know that we did that work? Is our “I” in the dust?”
If this were a test, I’d flunk. I want to be praised. I don’t want my mistakes to show, even to myself. It is important to me that people know I did the work, especially when it is well done. I let my “I” shine whenever and wherever I can.
A friend who practices Buddhism told me that it’s good for people to know of our good work because it will inspire them. I wanted to agree with him but in my heart of hearts I didn’t feel humble about it, even as I knew that that could be true.
My personality is split because in my heart of hearts I also know that any good I have is grace. If I could bring the two together, my life might not look different, but I know it would feel different and be different. Humility trumping pride. That’s my prayer.
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