humility

in the fourteenth chapter in the Gospel According to Luke (NABRE), Jesus calls us to humility. Critical to growth in the spiritual life, humility also is an easily misunderstood concept. In this parable, Jesus explains humility as a function of status. The Greek word translated as humility, ταπεινόω (tapeinoo), literally refers to height and suggests making oneself low or close to the ground. The Latin root of the word humble, humus, means the ground or the earth. Even today, we talk about status and class in terms of height with people being seen as higher and upper, or lower. In this context, humility is making ourselves lower, not in the physical but in the social sense. Note that status is not the same as identity. Humility does not call us to be less than we are. It is only in play in terms of our relative position and more importantly our perception of ourselves when compared to others.

How do you view yourself in comparison to other people? Do you seek to be higher or lower? How might you relate differently to people if you were more humble?

related topics: humble; Letter to the Philippians; servant; slave

you also may like our study of Saul, David & Solomon
The United Kingdom of Israel: Saul, David & Solomon Foreshadow Christ the King, a 28-lesson Catholic Bible study with an imprimatur, provides an in-depth look at the First and Second Books of Samuel to learn how the lives of the monarchs Saul, David, and Solomon point ahead to the kingdom of heaven. The unified reign of King David is seen as a foreshadowing or type of the unity that is one of the four marks of the Church—the kingdom of God—established by Jesus Christ. Click on the book’s cover to view a sample lesson.

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