Humility

In C.S Lewis's The Screwtape Letters, the imaginary dialoge of a senior demon to his nephew demon is recorded. I've been reading this book and journaling about each chapter, however, this week what I read really struck me. In fact, it is something that I'm very guilty of.

 "...Conceal from the patient the true end of Humility. Let him think of it not as self-forgetfulness but as a certian kind of opinion (namely, a low opinion) of his own talents and character.... Fix in his mind the idea that humility consists in trying to believe those talents to be less valuable than he believes them to be... By this method thousands of humans have been brought to think that humility means pretty women trying to believethey are ugly and clever men trying to believe they are fools."

Wow.

I have to say that I've has this "fake humility." I've tried having a low opinion of the gifts God has blessed me with because I thought that was being humble. Just think about that. Something isn't right with the picture! If God gives me a gift, I should know it's something good and worth while. My talents are a blessing and something to be proud of! God gave them to me and it is SO wrong of me to belittle them and think of them as less than they really are. I'm not saying you should be prideful about your talents or anything else God's blessed you with (like brains or beauty). What I'm saying is that we should acknowledge that God has blessed us and not try to hide it from the world.

If my parents gave me a $1,000 I wouldn't say, "Oh, it's just a thousand dollars. It's not a big deal. It's nothing to be proud of." I would be really excited and thankful for the money! If I had the attitude of "it's nothing to be proud of" not only would I be ignoring the true value of the gift, but I would be belittling the giver's choice. If my parents gave me that money, apparently they a) wanted to give it to me b) thought I'd like it and c) thought it would suit me and my needs. Now, if you put your gifts (once again, that includes talents, appearance, smarticles) in place of the money, think about how it sounds to Jesus when we have that "fake humility." It is pretty much saying, "Jesus, that gift you gave me, is no good. It wasn't worth your time because really it's nothing for me to be proud of." We might be TRYING to be humble... but when we have this mind set we're not.

So, this really hit home with me because I'm VERY guilty of this. The sad thing is, I'd never really thought about this before. It's changed my view the talents, appearance, and brains that God has given me. :)

Who God made you is a gift.

<3