During our weekly reflections on the idea of humility as creatures made by God, we have considered several examples of humility. We have also seen that we can confuse humility with an exaggerated sense of self-deprecation.   

To be humble does not mean that one is not worthy of anything or somehow cannot be seen as valuable by God. Rather, it means to see ourselves as God sees us, with both our strengths and our weaknesses, our virtues and our sins.   

Each of us has likely encountered a person who exhibits “false humility”– they may refuse to take credit for anything good that they have done, or they may overinflate their flaws and character defects. The truth is, if God wanted us to be perfect, He would have created us that way.  The fact that each of us is somewhat broken does not mean that we are not valued by God or capable of doing good.   

When we humans do something good, we should acknowledge that it is God’s grace that allows it, and we must also accept that our cooperation is necessary to complete the task. This cooperation creates virtue in us, and that virtue can be strengthened through even more cooperation.   

When we fall into sin or do something that is not virtuous, we must accept responsibility for our part in not cooperating with God’s grace. When our own selfishness and self-interest acts on our will, we choose something other than what God wants. This separates us from God, but it does not make us less loved by Him, nor less valuable. To think otherwise is to negate the effect of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. He died precisely because God created us with free will, knowing that sometimes free will would result in bad choices.  

This week, let us be conscious of how false humility can be as much a problem as false pride, and strive to avoid both. Let us be fully aware the role of God in our lives and see ourselves with heavenly eyes.