"Umbly" is an annoying word...

But I'm not writing to complain. I'm here to share with you something that was shared with me in my Interpersonal Communications class. This devotional gave me a unique look at humility and how it can be taken too far or used as a cop-out.

"This devotional really speaks to our comparison to others and the effect it has on our self-concept. I hope it makes you think/pray about how God sees you -- not how you compare to others. On the Journey Toward Humility by Larry Gillick Uriah Heep, in David Copperfield, keeps repeating that he’s an “Umble man”. He turns out to be anything but humble. He uses that mask to achieve selfish ends. Humble comes from the Latin word for dirt or earth’s soil. Being humble has something to do with being as simple and honest and dignified as the soil. It is what it is and nothing more or less. By contrast, inferiority is an excuse, or a self-diminishment resulting from “compare-a-sinning”. If we are frightened of entering into the adventure of the new or the unfamiliar, we can excuse ourselves by “umbly” assuming the mask of not being adequate. The sin of comparing ourselves with others will keep us always under the umbrella of sad safety. In this lifestyle we judge the gifts of others as better than anything we might have. We also live in fear of others judging us in the same negative manner. The sin of this comparing is that we end up denying that we have anything good at all. We also prevent ourselves being gifts in the lives of anybody else. We are of the earth, but not defined totally by the earth. Humility is the peaceful state of honest acceptance of how my earthliness can give growth to others. Pride has to do with creating ourselves. We walk the road to humility with our feet on the earth and our identities given us by the Creator – who sees everything as good and humans as very good."

This taught me that if you always compare yourself to everyone else and what they can do, you are failing yourself and the people around you. Everyone has strengths, and everyone has weaknesses. It's important to recognize your own strengths and use them to the best of your ability. When you focus on what you can't do or what you wish you could do, instead of what you excel at, you're letting yourself and those around you down. I tried to find a link to Kevin Max's song Be, but it seems non-existent. I thought it fit well with this post though. (Even though 50% of my subscribers find him annoying.)