C.S. Lewis wrote, “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”
Maybe its the man in me, the pride I battle daily, the lingering effects of wanting to be praised, to be loved, to be followed, adored, whatever…maybe its just sin wanting to slip into my life. But true humility is something I struggle with.
Humility at its most simplistic breakdown is this, it’s simply thinking about, promoting the interests of and celebrating others more than yourself. BAM! That sounds so simple doesn’t it? Then why is it so hard? Why do we fail at this daily?
Relevant Magazine just posted a great article on this very topic and you can find the whole thing HERE.
This one hit me over the head this morning!
1. The humble brag
I used to work with this guy who’d say things like, “My wife’s always telling me that people think I’m weird and socially awkward because I use professor-like vocabulary words instead of talking like a normal person.”
Let me translate that for you: “Folks think I’m weird BECAUSE I’M SO STINKIN’ SMART!”
A humble brag is the delightful technique of saying something awesome about yourself, but washing it down with a chaser of faux-criticism or depreciation. Only one person in a group can never seem to recognize a humble brag, and that’s the person who’s using it. They’re too busy trying to force feed you a spoonful of their awesomeness.
I fail at this all the time with my love for the gym and my love of talking about going to the gym, what I did at the gym, and whatever else I want to humble brag about. I’ll mix in some motivation like, “If I can do THIS…then so can you” or “Look at this crazy thing I just did at the gym, so cool what the human body can do when you put your mind to it” and all I am really saying is, “LOOK AT ME” and the awesome things I can do at the gym.
Its so subtle and so often goes unnoticed as I type them into twitter or say them to friends but its a humble brag none the less.
The question I have to ask myself is WHY? Why am I letting the world know this? Is it motivation, is it helpful, is it for their benefit or is it to brag or boast of what I just did? You would think the answers come easy but they don’t. I pray that as God works in some of these areas within me you would invite Him to work in some of those areas within yourself too.
Check out the other 3 areas that we aren’t as humble as we think we are HERE.
-Carlos