Practicing humility helps us take a “right size” approach to the natural world and to other cultures. But humility can be found (or not) in parenting, too. You may have heard of the “humble brag,” where someone pretends to be humble but is really bragging. It’s showboating disguised with a complaint. I want to humble-brag that my kids are wilderness-ready adventurers who would know what to do if they, say, encounter a bear. But honestly they’d probably panic and run. Just as faith, reading, swimming and any life skill requires practice and time, it also takes practice to build up skills of humility.
According to author Daryl Van Tongeren, author of Humble: Free Yourself from the Traps of a Narcissistic World, humility starts with knowing your own worth and value. That way, you don’t constantly strive for outside affirmation. Thank God that our faith gives us that grounding! We are of infinite worth and value to God, who loves us, calls us by name and places us in the world God made for us to tend and enjoy.
This message is excerpted from “Humble” by Lisa A. Smith in the January/February 2024 Gather magazine.
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