Every person who is interested in spiritual quest, at some point has to face a question: what is humility? What role does it play in our life? The church teaches to be humble, but the image of humility that we have is often negative. In our minds, it could be associated with such things as social conformism, resignation and low self-esteem. Does God expect from us blind obedience to any self-appointed authority? Is it His will for us to "carry the cross" of sufferings? Does God really want us to despise ourselves, and to consider ourselves "worms"? Are we "dust"? Are we "nothing"? Can we value ourselves, believe in ourselves, promote ourselves, and take pride in ourselves as human beings?

The best example of humility for me is the one of Jesus. He said: "Take up my yoke upon you, and learn from me. Because I am meek and humble in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls" (Matthew 11:29, Youngs Literal Translation).

He called Himself meek and humble, and yet He never accepted the status quo in any way. He challenged the religious standards of His society. He healed the sick and proclaimed freedom from oppression. He was bold before God and people bold in words, prayers, and actions. Can we imitate Him? Can we learn from Him? Yes, I think so.

The only worthwhile humility is the one of Jesus.

Jesus believed in His worth and value as a child of God.
Jesus believed that He had something valuable to offer to the world.
Jesus believed that the Truth that He embraced and declared was sufficient to meet human needs.

When I read about great men and women in history, I saw that they displayed the same attitude. Although they were bluntly honest about their weaknesses and blind spots, they did not make them their focus. All successful people, all pioneers and achievers dedicated themselves to moving forward with their vision. Almost all of them were accused in pride, and yet they were humble, truly humble.

"I did not disobey the heavenly vision" (Acts 26:19), said Paul.

Humility is our willingness to obey God's guidance and to act on God's ideas that He pours into our heart. Humility is our resolution to share ourselves, even if we know that is a risky business. We can be criticized and ridiculed. We can be rejected. We can fail. And yet we are willing to do all that it takes to fulfill our life mission, being confident in who we are and what we represent. Playing it safe is beneath our dignity.

Humility is a sense of detachment from anyone and anything, except God, who is totally sufficient for us.

At the same time, humility involves a deep realization of interconnectedness with other human beings. Being humble, we understand that no man is an island. We share each other successes and failures. We need others, and, at the same time, others need us. We complement each other, and help each other in the process of growth and unfoldment. True success is the success for all, because it brings direct or indirect blessings to all.

The third aspect of humility is our willingness to go through a process of self-discipline in order to achieve our desired goal. "And everyone who strives for the mastery is temperate in all things" (1 Corinthians 9:25), wrote Paul. Temperance and self-mastery are not our goals in themselves, but they are necessary means to reach our goal, the one that burns in our heart and inspires our actions.

When we humble ourselves before God, that is, accept our important place in Gods scheme of things, accept our connection with others, and accept the pruning process of self-discipline, we are being exalted. We are moving forward and upward. For me, it means that the people, who are not moving anywhere, are not really humble, no matter how their justifications could sound.

If the definition of humility that has been given to us does not fit us anymore, we are free to write our own definition. Defining and re-defining of key spiritual concepts is an important part of our creative process. As long as we are fruitful, we can rest assured that our works are done in God, even if we are not in line with opinions of others.