What in the heck is Humility?

“Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart!” (Matthew 11:29)

This verse always confused me. What was this “humble” that Jesus is talking about? Most people, when they think humility, are thinking about a vague self-depreciation. Many people think that when they call themselves fat or stupid or ugly, they are being humble (or they’re just fishing for compliments. Which is really annoying, so don’t do it.) Though it is important to know that you aren’t the prettiest, slimmest, or smartest person on earth, insulting yourself is unhealthy and even dangerous! People who struggle with anorexia or bulimia have a deeply unhealthy and wrong hatred for their bodies. What they do and say to themselves isn’t humble, it’s wrong!

So we’ve established that humility isn’t self-depreciation or self-hatred. But what is it? Lets find you readers some quotes. Readers love quotes.

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself- it is thinking of yourself less!” – C.S Lewis

“Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance.” – St. Augustine

“Humility enforces where neither virtue, nor strength, nor reason can prevail.” -Francis Quarels

“Humility is not cowardice. Meekness is not weakness. Humility and meekness are indeed spiritual powers. ” Swami Sivananda

And I, myself, will add one here, my own view on humility.

” Humility is not merely knowing your weaknesses, but also knowing your strengths, little as they may be, and offering them up for the glory of God.”

What we see from all of these quotes is that, without humility, the other virtues have no foundation. I mean, if Pride is the root of all sin, then humility has the be the root of all virtues! No, you aren’t the center of the universe, but the One who is the center of the universe came down, humbling Himself, taking the form of His most imperfect creation, and died for you. It’s a beautiful conundrum-  In the eyes of the world, you are irrelevant, but in the eyes of God, you are so momentously important that He is desperate for you to be with Him forever!

But God needs us to be humble, because Pride cannot enter heaven. Ask for humility, but beware! If you ask for humility, He’s going to humiliate you! I know that I’ve been stupidly prideful for the past few weeks, because God has been, repeatedly, humbling me. I’ve had to re-learn that I’m not the prettiest, the best writer, the most knowledgeable about Church history, the funniest, or the greatest friend in the world. Is it worth it? Yes! Being closer to God is worth the humiliation of always saying the wrong thing and having people laugh at you. Though that does really suck. But humility dictates you need to join in the laughter, and stop taking yourself so seriously.

EDIT: October 31st, 2013: Litany of humility and a song!

(the bold parts are the response to the normal script)

“O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.

From the desire of being loved…
From the desire of being extolled …
From the desire of being honored …
From the desire of being praised …
From the desire of being preferred to others…
From the desire of being consulted …
From the desire of being approved …
From the fear of being humiliated …
From the fear of being despised…
From the fear of suffering rebukes …
From the fear of being calumniated …
From the fear of being forgotten …
From the fear of being ridiculed …
From the fear of being wronged …
From the fear of being suspected …

That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I …
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease …
That others may be chosen and I set aside …
That others may be praised and I unnoticed …
That others may be preferred to me in everything…
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…”

And a song, by the lovely and talented Audrey Assad, based on the litany of humility.

Audrey Assad- I Shall Not Want

Love to all!

-Tani

What constitues a love song?

Love is in the air, folks. I say that a lot, being the poor single gal that I am, but it’s true. As human beings, we are hardwired for love. As I said in a post a year back or so, we are made in the image and likeness of God, who is, as the scriptures say, love itself. We are a mirror reflecting the ultimate love!

Most of the time, though, in the this godless society, the only love that we talk about is romantic love. And, sadly, the word love has become synonymous with sex. Blech. Yes, “making love” is a good and holy thing (when confined to marriage) but indiscriminate sex with multiple partners has done nothing to better our society. Just the opposite, in fact. Our music reflects this. Even the great Taylor Swift has turned from her cutesy love songs (Like Mary’s song) and is now doing lust and touch and passion ballads like “Red.” I don’t know how many times I’ve gone searching for a good love song only to have to turn it off half way through because of how nasty it is! It’s all a romantic gal can do to keep sane around here!

You want some lyrics? I’ll give you some lyrics.

“I know what you thinking
That you want me like that
Yeah, you want me like that” (Britney Spears “Seal It With A Kiss.”)

“Grab somebody sexy, tell ’em hey
Give me everything tonight” (Pittbull “Give Me Everything.” The song where you are supposed to up to some random person and ask them for sex. Good idea. -_-)

“I know you want me
I made it obvious that I want you too
So put it on me
Let’s remove the space between me and you” (Enrique Iglesias “Tonight I’m f****** [sometimes switched to loving] You. Paragon of real love, that.)

“It’s a quarter after one, I’m a little drunk and I need you now.” (Lady Antebellum “Need You Now.” Note- NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER use intoxication as an excuse for making out. EVER.)

There are, of course, dozens more examples that I am simply too pressed on time to search for.  But you get the idea.

But wait, you say. There are just as many songs out there that are more ambiguous. That aren’t explicit, though they use the word “sexy” a few times. How do I know if these are good to listen to or not?

Here’s a good rule of thumb. If a song could be re-utilized as a Christian song, then it is a real love song. Because, in the end, God should be the focus of all our love anyway. If you can use a song as a way for you to talk to God or God to talk to you, then it is entirely appropriate for you to say to your girlfriend/boyfriend. Want some more examples?

“It’s a long way down,
We’re so high off the ground,
Sending for an angel to bring me your heart
Girl, where did you come from?
Got me so undone,
Gazing in your eyes got me singing what a beautiful lady
No “if”s, “and”s or “maybe”s
I’m releasing my heart and it’s feeling amazing
There’s no one else that matters
you love me and I won’t let you fall girl” (Chris Brown “Forever.” I love this song!)

“You never know when you’re gonna meet someone
And your whole wide world in a moment comes undone
You’re just walking around and suddenly
Everything that you thought that you knew about love is gone
You find out it’s all been wrong
And all my scars don’t seem to matter anymore
Cause they led me here to you” (Daughtry “Start of Something Good.”)

“I’m alive, I’m on fire
And my spirit burns with desire
You set me alight, bright eyed
And with no way to hold it inside” (Peter Furler “I’m Alive.” Yes, this is, in fact, an actual Christian song, but it shows the passion and love that we should be focusing on God first, while at the same time being a good song to express romantic love!)

I guess all I should say is listen to the lyrics of songs. I know, that with a lot of these songs the tune and the beat is so catchy and fun and that makes you ignore the poison of the lyrics. But there are a lot of Christian bands that have equally good sound. Skillet and Fireflight are Christian metal, tobyMac and Group1Crew are Christian rap/pop, and Kutless and Anthem Lights are Christian rock. You don’t have to give up your favorite genre in order to give up the venomous words of secular music. And, of course, there are some secular songs that are deeply beautiful and that show real love. These are few and far between, however.

Guard your heart, my friends, but also guard your mind. You really, really dont want those words and lyrics in your head. It eats away at your innocence. Most of us aren’t sweet innocent children who have never heard a curse word worse than damn, but that doesn’t mean that listening to the septic garbage on 93.7KRQ is ok, or that it won’t hurt us. It will. I close, as I have closed many a post, with Phillipians 4:8.

“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable–if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise–dwell on these things.”

Love to all!

-Tani