To live humbly in the presence of God and others is to follow a contrarian route. Humility is definitely not about turning into a spiritual jellyfish. Humility doesn’t entail that you have to surrender your own personality, views and opinions. (This is a popular misconception on the side of numerous believers and non-believers alike.) Humility is definitely not about losing your identity and becoming a no-body and a nobody in the eyes of everybody. It’s not about sacrificing your ego or your healthy sense of self. No, humility is about you becoming more who God created you to be by surrendering all those selfish desires to further your own aims at the expense of God and others. Humility is a daily choice to let God be God. It’s a conscious decision to live your life according to his gracious principles. It is to submit to his grace-hijackings every day. Humility is a living relationship with God that makes you more compassionate, caring, open, honest and sensitive. It connects you with others around you in new, more meaningful relationships. It makes you strangely magnetic. It gives your life a new sense of direction and purpose.

Humility turns you into the real deal in all relationships you are involved in -the ‘what you see is what you get’ type. Far too many relationships today are built on lies and half truths. People fear being honest. They are nice to each other on the outside, but that’s where it ends. It’s often just superficial face-talk, since they often confess each other’s sins to others behind their backs. By the way, we call this gossip! Recently a person ‘even confessed’ to me that he hates to spread gossip, but unfortunately the people he shares some details with about his friends’ mistakes have loose tongues! Followers of Jesus don’t talk behind other people’s backs. They have the courage to tell others to their face if they are out of line. Humble people cherish integrity-based relationships, even if it means taking the risk of losing friends. You always know where you stand with them. They will tell you, gently but assuredly, when something is wrong. They will graciously hold you accountable to your values, since humility is also about transparency. They will also allow you to “edit” them to be the best followers of Jesus they can be in God’s eyes.