Pride vs. True Humility

"True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less."
                                                                                -C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

So often, we think the exact opposite of this statement.  We feel like tearing ourselves up and making ourselves out to be less than we think we are is true humility.  We go to great lengths to tell ourselves that we aren't very good at what we do, we aren't very pretty, or we are just downright not very good people.  All the while we know that all of the statements that we have just made about ourselves are not true at all.  But, we think that by tearing ourselves up constantly like this, we are showing true humility.  I hate to break the news to you, but this is actually a form of pride.

Look up at that quote again.  "True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less."  What do we learn from this quote?  Even though we feel like we are being extremely humble by putting ourselves down all the time, we are actually being extremely prideful by thinking constantly of ourselves.  It doesn't matter if the thoughts are good or bad, it only matters the amount of time that we spend concentrating on ourselves instead of others.

So, if putting myself down all the time is not true humility, then what is?  True humility comes when we are seeking the best for others and putting them before ourselves.  Once we start concentrating our time on others, then we will not only have less time to think about ourselves, but we will also be practicing humility.  Once you do this, be careful that you do not begin to pride yourself on your humility, or all of your hard work towards it will go out the window.  Humility will take a lot of persistent hard work, and that work will continue all throughout your lifetime.

Philippians 2:3-4
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of the others.

(This post was inspired by a few comments my pastor [Jay Childs] made in his sermon yesterday.)