Humility

Humility as the truth about yourself

                Today we will deal with the virtue of humility. Humility is a virtue considered by all saints and also by ascetic theologians to be a virtue without which growth in perfection is impossible. This virtue was most appreciated by the Lord Jesus. And not in vain, indeed, the original sin, the sin of pride (I will not serve!) Is overwhelmed by its opposite – humility.

                Humility means seeing ourselves as God sees me. Knowing that all the good I have comes from him as a gift and that I am completely dependent on him.

Today, it is sufficient to remain in this definition of humility from St. Tomáš Aquinas, recognizing its content.

                Seeing yourself as God sees me. Let’s talk about it in two ways – to give up judgment. Do not judge you not to be judged (Mt 7: 1). We often see this statement of Christ only as a prohibition to judge others. But much more often we judge ourselves. Either by apologizing – not otherwise, or by damning – I failed again … Both of these attitudes have the same problem – on what basis do I judge? Where do I know what I know? What did I compare to? It was my idea what I should be? Was it the expectation of others? Was it my idea what God was expecting from me? And it can be a number of other criteria. Of course, we can work on improving them, but it will still be the wrong way. That is, it is not our job to improve the criteria on which we judge, it is our job not to judge. That belongs to God.

How then can I know the truth about myself if I don’t have to judge? This is the second aspect – allowing God to reveal me. Being exposed, caught, is unpleasant. But we do not have to worry, God does not want to humiliate us and therefore reveals us discreetly. Most often in prayer. Let’s try to postpone the whip of anger for our conscience, because we have failed, try not to fall into ourselves and analyze, or to give immediate solutions to what we should. Let’s just show up to God. Without justification, without blame (which is also just a hidden form of justification). If we stay ahead of him, he will show us the direction, help us understand what to do with it.

We often talk about God’s mercy, and sometimes we seem to be exaggerating. After all, people will start to abuse it, rely on it and therefore we must compensate by pointing out God’s righteousness and His judgment. But God’s mercy can only be received by a person who is aware of his own sinfulness, and God will only show us our sinfulness to the extent that we are able to receive it. Therefore, we must know about God’s mercy and be humble to accept the truth about ourselves. Otherwise, we cannot embark on the path of spiritual life. Indeed, the first thing we will learn on this journey is the truth about ourselves when we are confronted with our shadowy side.

So seeing ourselves as God sees us means accepting the truth about ourselves, about our own sinfulness, and at the same time accepting God’s mercy – the truth that God loves me despite everything. In other words, accept that love is free. And it is not without humility. More precisely – this acceptance is humility.

Many therapeutic methods also discover this truth. An extremely successful program of anonymous alcoholics claims that no one can give up alcoholism unless he honestly and humbly acknowledges that he is completely helpless to drink and unless he enters into the hands of a Force Majeure. We can peacefully apply this principle to all our sin, darkness, addiction, struggles, vices, evil and weakness … and we can start to grow.

To know that all the good I have comes from him as a gift and we are totally dependent on him. Recognizing your own addiction, even accepting it, or even longing for it at a time when nothing weighs more than independence? It is not an easy task. We see freedom in independence and enslavement in dependence. This is exactly so in relation to the created things that are subordinate to us. Dependence on something to serve me is truly slavery. But to depend on someone who is above me, who is my Creator, is not slavery, but acceptance of the truth. Without Him we cannot do anything, without Him we are nothing, without Him we do not exist.

Of course, such an addiction to a higher being is also intimidating. He can play with us like puppets. Satisfy your whims on us, play around, wind, promise and then discard. So there is exactly the same risk as those entering into marriage. Not dangerous? What if it changes? What if he doesn’t mean honestly? Such a picture of God was created by Greek mythology, where all human vices were ascribed to gods, and therefore the sense of human life became free from the gods. Is it even possible? Isn’t this just leading to the endless suffering of Prometheus on the rock? But God loves us, He created us because He wanted to give us and call us into communion with him. He knows everything about us and still loves us. Being able to do all that evil to someone in my pride does not really mean that it is God. Accepting the truth about yourself also means accepting that I am not God. God is different. There is no sin in it. He cannot sin