A Lesson in Humility

"Humility doesn't mean you think less of yourself, but that you think of yourself less."

- Max Lucado

I love this quote. I desire to be a much more humble person. Being a wife and a mother has made me more humble. It has forced me to think of the needs of my family and put those needs before my own. However, my self-centered nature is still very strong.

Max Lucado posed this question..."Do you still see people? Or do you see only their functions?" I've been guilty. How about you? I would like to say that I always see people, but too often I am only thinking about me and my agenda. I get frustrated easily when I'm running errands and someone slows me down...such as the grocery store cashier who can only seem to scan one item every 5 seconds, or the waitress who can never be found when you need her. While I'm usually still polite, my thoughts are not nearly as kind. If I met these people somewhere else, I would be more likely to get to know them. But when they are in a position to serve me, I am ashamed to say that I tend to care about the quality of their service more than about who they are.

This reminds me of a scene from a movie I watched recently, What Women Want. In the movie Mel Gibson gets electrocuted and as a result can hear women's thoughts. (I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want anyone being able to hear mine!) Anyway, there was a girl that worked in his office that often went unnoticed. She wouldn't have captured his attention at all if he hadn't heard her thoughts unveiling her low self-esteem. But because he realized who she was, he took the time to care and save her from committing suicide. He became more humble by hearing and acknowledging the feelings of others.

May we all learn to view others through God's eyes, thinking of them more and of ourselves less.