Humility Frees Us

He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. (Psalm 25:9 ESV)

Knowing we’re loved by God allows us to have a strong sense of self-esteem and be able to wear our self-worth lightly, with humility, because we are secure in God and His unconditional love for us. Being secure in God’s love, we recognize that there is no reason to try to exalt ourselves in His eyes or in the eyes of others.

As individuals created in God’s image and uniquely loved by God, we can have full confidence in our personal worth. We can candidly recognize and acknowledge both our strengths and weaknesses, our talents and negative habits. We should strive to have a realistic picture of ourselves, without thinking that we’re either wonderful or awful. We shouldn’t lift ourselves up in pride, nor consider ourselves worthless. Either extreme—feeling that everyone is better than us, or that we are better than everyone else—is wrong.

Humility lies in recognizing that we are valuable to God, that He loves us, made us, and has given us gifts and talents, while also not thinking that it’s all about us, that we are better and more gifted than others.

Humility frees us from worrying about prestige or position, physical features or attractiveness, success or failure, and many other anxieties that come along with pride and measuring ourselves against others. —Peter Amsterdam [1]

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less. —Rick Warren

[1] Activated More Like Jesus: Humility