Humility – Self-Defense

General Message

The lecture focuses on the virtue of humility and explains that the humble person does not justify himself or defend himself, but rather confesses his sins and leaves to God the task of justifying and defending him. It highlights that continuous self-defense leads to many spiritual and behavioral sins, whereas humility leads to repentance and salvation.

• Pope Shenouda III teaches that the humble person confesses his sin and seeks forgiveness, while the person who constantly justifies himself loses the spirit of repentance and the sense of needing God’s work in his life.
• The humble person leaves to God the task of defending him, even when exposed to injustice or accusation, following spiritual examples such as Joseph the Righteous, who endured injustice without defending himself until God revealed his innocence.
• The lecture presents examples from the lives of saints who accepted accusations with silence and humility, receiving the blessing of contrition and having their innocence revealed in God’s appointed time.
• The lecture confirms that the sin of self-defense is closely connected to pride and self-glorification because it makes a person see himself as righteous in his own eyes.
• Among the fruits of self-defense are lying, blaming others, justifying mistakes, and inventing excuses, which lead to a chain of successive sins.
• Self-defense can also lead to anger, stubbornness, conflicts, and hardness of heart, and may cause a person to cling to his error instead of admitting it and turning away from it.
• The lecture points out that many problems and disputes among people continue because each side insists on justifying itself and is unwilling to admit fault or ask forgiveness.
• The spiritual message emphasizes that true strength is not in defending oneself but in relying on God and accepting humility, following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, who did not defend Himself during His trial but allowed the truth to appear through the power of God.

Orthodox Spiritual Dimension

Humility is the path to true repentance because a person acknowledges his weakness and sins before God. Self-justification, however, closes the door of repentance and leads to pride and stubbornness. The lecture calls the believer to leave judgment and defense to God and to imitate Christ and the saints in patience, calmness, and accepting insults without resistance or self-justification.

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