Steps on the Road to God – Signs of Humility
Steps on the Road to God
I continue with you our talk about humility… What is humility, and what are its signs?
It is a long talk, and we wish to take an idea about some of it:
Signs of Humility
Humility is the absence of self-importance. It is the lack of elevation of the heart from within; and if the heart is elevated inwardly, it will have outward signs that indicate that. Therefore, humility has internal and external signs. And before everything else, it begins in the heart from within.
Humility is that you feel that you are a sinful and weak human being, and that you deserve nothing, and that you deal with yourself and with others according to this feeling…
Every good that you do, you attribute it to the work of God in you, God who brings sweetness out of bitterness.
You say to yourself: I am nothing of myself, but the merciful God, “Who raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes, with the princes of His people” (Ps 113:7–8). And when the Lord raises you from the dust, you continue to repeat with the psalmist: “My soul clings to the dust” (Ps 119:25).
This is from the absolute point of view; but from the relative point of view, you say: “I am more sinful than all people, and weaker and more ignorant than them, and also more unworthy than them. So do not think that you are better than anyone.”
And this feeling is to be real in the depths of you, and to remain with you always.
One of the saints was asked: What is humility? He said: It is a person’s knowledge of himself… So humility is not that you see yourself as great, but that out of love for virtue you make yourself small! For in knowing that you are great there is a kind of pride, and likewise your feeling that you are making yourself small…
Rather, humility is that you know yourself completely as weak, sinful, and unworthy… and that you deal with yourself in a way that suits this.
Humility, as it is before oneself and in its depths, is also before God, before people, and even before demons…
Before God, you confess your weakness and His grace upon you, and that without Him you can do nothing; therefore, as you confess to Him, you pray asking for His help.
And before people, you do not speak about yourself, nor do you become proud or puffed up, nor do you exalt yourself over anyone, nor do you treat anyone as if you were better than him. Rather, you treat everyone with respect, and as the spiritual elder said: “In every place you enter, be the smallest of your brothers and their servant.”
As for humility before demons, among its greatest examples is Saint Anthony the Great, who used to say to the demons: “O you strong ones, what do you want from me, I who am weak? I am unable to fight even the smallest of you.”
The humble saint does not even rebuke demons…
Therefore, when the angel Michael rebuked Satan, he said to him: “The Lord rebuke you, Satan, the Lord rebuke you.” The humble saints did not curse demons, nor command them with arrogance, because a demon does not cast out a demon.
True humility is not outward appearances or a kind of acting…
There is a person who makes prostrations without humility: his head is in the dust while his heart is raised above the clouds… He says a word of humility, and a word “I have sinned,” while his heart is not convinced of what his tongue says; rather, he may make prostrations as a kind of policy or to gain positions!
Humility is not outward gentleness and self-deprecating words while there is pride and greatness in the heart, and confidence and self-reliance…
Humility is also of two kinds: humility of the body and humility of the spirit…
The body humbles itself in its appearance, so it does not sit or walk with arrogance. Its looks and features are humble, and its words, movements, clothing, and adornment are so as well. As for humility of the spirit, it is what they call poverty of spirit, or spiritual poverty, which the Lord Christ gave as the first of the Beatitudes.
The Paradise says that there is secular arrogance and monastic arrogance…
Secular arrogance: related especially to greatness in outward appearance, such as luxurious clothing, excessive adornment, jewelry, displays of wealth and furnishings, delight in titles, fame, and positions, and so on…
As for monastic arrogance: it is boasting in outward forms of asceticism, such as fasting until a late hour, refusing certain kinds of food, taking on an appearance of solitude, confinement, and silence before people, and perhaps rejoicing that a person is thin so that people may know that he is an ascetic!!
The humble monk may not refuse any food offered to him; he takes it before people, but does not eat it, rather he gives it secretly as alms to the poor…
God desires humility of heart; He loves the humble and contrite spirit. And if the heart is humble, all the outward signs of humility will be natural.
Words of humility, humble behavior in dealings, and self-denial—all this becomes merely a natural, unintended expression. As the Scripture says: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good… for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45).
The first fall in the world was the pride of spirit; it was the elevation of the heart, when the heart of Satan was lifted up from within and he wanted to be the greatest…
So what is the humble heart then, and what are its signs?
The first sign of the humble heart is calmness, which the Scripture says about: “the gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God” (1 Pet 3:4).
Satan always loves noise and showiness that are incompatible with meekness. As for the humble saints, they were always gentle and calm…
It was said about the Lord Christ that He “will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoking flax He will not quench” (Matt 12:19–20). This is the utmost gentleness and calmness.
Even on the day of His crucifixion, He was with the same gentleness: “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth” (Isa 53:7).
In the story of God’s encounter with Elijah, we hear that there was a strong wind, but God was not in the wind; and fire, but God was not in the fire; and an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. And there was a still, small voice saying to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kings 19). And it was the voice of God.
The arrogant, self-exalted person exposes himself to the wrath of God upon him!
See what the Scripture says: “For the day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up—and it shall be brought low—upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan; upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up; upon every high tower, and upon every fortified wall; upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all the beautiful craft. The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day” (Isa 2:12–17).
Truly, pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. The arrogant fall because the Lord resists them, because the Lord has a day against them.
The humble person is gentle and calm. He offers the other cheek and goes the second mile. If they take his tunic, he leaves the cloak also. He does not resist evil. He does not defend himself; rather, the Lord is the One who defends him. He does not exalt himself; rather, the more he humbles himself, the more the Lord exalts him.
The humble person says: “Not I, but the Lord… I am nothing.”
But the proud person is centered around the word “I,” and all his concerns revolve around it.
Just as the proud Pharisee stood speaking about his works, and like the severe trial into which righteous Job fell when he spoke about himself (Job 29).
Thus Job said: “When I went out to the gate by the city, when I took my seat in the open square, the young men saw me and hid, and the aged arose and stood; the princes refrained from talking, and put their hand on their mouth. For when the ear heard, then it blessed me, and when the eye saw, then it approved me… I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was a father to the poor” (Job 29:7–15).
The problem of righteous Job was that he was righteous and blameless, and he knew about himself that he was righteous and blameless. So what he knew about himself of righteousness troubled him.
Therefore, when did his trial end? It ended when he felt his weakness before God, put his hand on his mouth, and said: “I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” And he also said: “Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” And when he reached dust and ashes, his trial ended and the Lord restored his captivity (Job 42).
Yet there are people who may not be centered around the word “I,” but around the word “we.” It is the pride of self in the form of the group.
As when a person boasts of his country, his tribe, his race, or his university. Or as the Germans boasted that they were of the Aryan race, and as the Jews boasted that they were the sons of Abraham, and as the Pharisees boasted that they were the meticulous group…
And one who boasts may try to hide his boasting with an expression of thanksgiving to God…
Just as the Pharisee began his boasting by saying: “God, I thank You that I am not like other men” (Luke 18:11). And just as Job began his boasting by saying: “Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God watched over me; when His lamp shone upon my head, and when by His light I walked through darkness; when the friendship of God was over my tent” (Job 29:2–4).
And how difficult it is what a person may develop into in the word “I,” until all his own greatness pleases him, so he seeks gifts and the working of miracles.
And he forgets all the verses calling for humility, and remembers only “But earnestly desire the best gifts,” forgetting what was said after it: “And yet I show you a more excellent way” (1 Cor 12:31).
He thinks that a person does not have a normal relationship with the Holy Spirit unless he speaks in tongues, or heals the sick, or casts out demons, forgetting that many said to the Lord: “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” And they heard from Him the phrase: “I never knew you! Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matt 7:22–23).
And he forgets the Lord’s word to His disciples about miracles: “Do not rejoice in this” (Luke 10:20).
And he forgets that the fruits of the Spirit are more beneficial for his salvation than the gifts of the Spirit, and that John the Baptist, the greatest among those born of women, the Scripture did not mention that he was a worker of miracles… The greatest thing in him was his humility, despite his being filled with the Holy Spirit. Rather, by this fullness he said: “I am not… He who comes after me, who was before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose” (John 1:20–27).
Never did a human being see wonders like the Virgin Mary, yet in her humility she remained silent, not speaking about her “experiences,” as many speak about their “experiences” without attaining anything like hers!!
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