We often hear about the importance of humility and being humble, but few people truly comprehend this. Insecure, prideful people lack humility, and the price they pay is that they experience a great deal of shame.
The Bible is clear on this:
With pride comes shame, but with humility comes wisdom. (Proverbs 11:2)
Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor. (Proverbs 29:23) (NLT)
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:10)
Without humility, you will experience a great deal of shame and humiliation. There is a reason why shame is the lowest emotion on the Map of Consciousness. Except for the feeling of wanting to die, there is nothing more agonizing.
Many people experience ongoing negative thoughts every single day. They continuously attack themselves (“I hate myself”; “I’m a loser”) and feel terrible shame over limitations they have and mistakes they have made. It is almost a continuous looping cycle with only the occasional respite.
Why do people do this to themselves? Quite simply, they lack humility.
Without humility, you won’t be able to stop thinking negative thoughts. Without humility, you won’t be able to stop attacking yourself.
The first step to humility is to fully embrace your humanness. This means accepting your limitations. You may not be smart enough, attractive enough, or successful enough, but that’s okay because it doesn’t subtract from your worth in the eyes of God. And it shouldn’t subtract from your worth in your own eyes, either. When you pass on to the next world, what will ultimately matter is not what you experienced in this life or the amount of worldly success you achieved, but how much you grew spiritually. In other words, what will matter is your level of consciousness as this is what will determine whether you go to heaven or hell.
Another major challenge for people is how to deal with past mistakes. The key is to understand that we each do the best we can in any given moment. If we could have made a better choice, we certainly would have. Therefore, every choice we make is the only choice we could have made. Humility is crucial here. Man’s greatest limitation is his inability to determine truth from falsehood. What this means is that we are each intrinsically innocent. If we understand this, if we can see our innocence, we can forgive ourselves.
Most people are guarded. Most people are afraid that others will see their flaws and weaknesses. Most people are afraid of being embarrassed or humiliated. But a person who has humility can never feel embarrassed or humiliated. If we can surrender our pride, we will be at peace with ourselves no matter how flawed we are, no matter how deficient we may be in the eyes of the world.
Most importantly, we can finally stop attacking ourselves. We can finally stop hating ourselves. While we can hide our true self from others, we cannot hide it from ourselves. But once we surrender our pride, then there is nothing left to hide and nothing to be ashamed of. The heavy anchor weighing us down can be cast aside, and we will finally be free.
I can testify to this because I’ve been one of those people who couldn’t stop attacking myself. Even after I reached a high level of consciousness (the level of Ecstasy), this was still a problem.
It was still a problem because I hadn’t yet learned to let go of my pride. I still hadn’t been willing to let my guard down.
But once I was finally able to do this, I began to experience life on a whole new level. In the past, the feeling of ecstasy would often fade due to all the negative thoughts and emotions that I couldn’t turn off. But once I finally did, the feeling of ecstasy became much more constant. I even started to sleep better. I started having dreams that were pleasant rather than uncomfortable. In the past, I would often wake up feeling awful and groggy, but now I wake up feeling good. It’s nothing short of incredible.
In conclusion, true humility comes from surrender. Be willing to surrender everything, to let other people see you just as you are. No more masks. No more hiding or pretending. Just be you.
People can accept you or not. But the most important thing is that you are able to accept yourself.
There is nothing more liberating than that.
***
I reread this article every single day, and I recommend that you do the same. Why? Because the wisdom it contains is easily forgotten.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
All other scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Christian Bible
The Bible is clear on this:
With pride comes shame, but with humility comes wisdom. (Proverbs 11:2)
Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor. (Proverbs 29:23) (NLT)
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:10)
Without humility, you will experience a great deal of shame and humiliation. There is a reason why shame is the lowest emotion on the Map of Consciousness. Except for the feeling of wanting to die, there is nothing more agonizing.
Many people experience ongoing negative thoughts every single day. They continuously attack themselves (“I hate myself”; “I’m a loser”) and feel terrible shame over limitations they have and mistakes they have made. It is almost a continuous looping cycle with only the occasional respite.
Why do people do this to themselves? Quite simply, they lack humility.
Without humility, you won’t be able to stop thinking negative thoughts. Without humility, you won’t be able to stop attacking yourself.
The first step to humility is to fully embrace your humanness. This means accepting your limitations. You may not be smart enough, attractive enough, or successful enough, but that’s okay because it doesn’t subtract from your worth in the eyes of God. And it shouldn’t subtract from your worth in your own eyes, either. When you pass on to the next world, what will ultimately matter is not what you experienced in this life or the amount of worldly success you achieved, but how much you grew spiritually. In other words, what will matter is your level of consciousness as this is what will determine whether you go to heaven or hell.
Another major challenge for people is how to deal with past mistakes. The key is to understand that we each do the best we can in any given moment. If we could have made a better choice, we certainly would have. Therefore, every choice we make is the only choice we could have made. Humility is crucial here. Man’s greatest limitation is his inability to determine truth from falsehood. What this means is that we are each intrinsically innocent. If we understand this, if we can see our innocence, we can forgive ourselves.
Most people are guarded. Most people are afraid that others will see their flaws and weaknesses. Most people are afraid of being embarrassed or humiliated. But a person who has humility can never feel embarrassed or humiliated. If we can surrender our pride, we will be at peace with ourselves no matter how flawed we are, no matter how deficient we may be in the eyes of the world.
Most importantly, we can finally stop attacking ourselves. We can finally stop hating ourselves. While we can hide our true self from others, we cannot hide it from ourselves. But once we surrender our pride, then there is nothing left to hide and nothing to be ashamed of. The heavy anchor weighing us down can be cast aside, and we will finally be free.
I can testify to this because I’ve been one of those people who couldn’t stop attacking myself. Even after I reached a high level of consciousness (the level of Ecstasy), this was still a problem.
It was still a problem because I hadn’t yet learned to let go of my pride. I still hadn’t been willing to let my guard down.
But once I was finally able to do this, I began to experience life on a whole new level. In the past, the feeling of ecstasy would often fade due to all the negative thoughts and emotions that I couldn’t turn off. But once I finally did, the feeling of ecstasy became much more constant. I even started to sleep better. I started having dreams that were pleasant rather than uncomfortable. In the past, I would often wake up feeling awful and groggy, but now I wake up feeling good. It’s nothing short of incredible.
In conclusion, true humility comes from surrender. Be willing to surrender everything, to let other people see you just as you are. No more masks. No more hiding or pretending. Just be you.
People can accept you or not. But the most important thing is that you are able to accept yourself.
There is nothing more liberating than that.
***
I reread this article every single day, and I recommend that you do the same. Why? Because the wisdom it contains is easily forgotten.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
All other scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Christian Bible