Humility: Word of the Day (and Week, and Month, and Year)

Recently I've realized that I am in need of a dose of humility.

Humility is defined by the all-knowing Wikipedia as this: "Humility, or being humble, is the defining characteristic of an unpretentious and modest person, someone who does not think that he or she is better or more important than others."

As a Christian and someone who attempts (and often fails) to follow Jesus' patterns for how I should act, it disturbs me that lately I've been catching myself thinking prideful, even arrogant thoughts.

Granted, I think self-confidence and pride are two different things. I think it's very positive to believe in yourself and to have healthy self-esteem. I also think it's negative to take self-confidence to the level of self-pride, believing that I can do things on my own apart from the help of others, including God.

It's so easy to get caught up in the daily trappings of life, and it's easy (at least for me) to be consumed by the goings-on in my little singular world. I know that I need to do a better job of recognizing that the world is so full, and so far beyond my own meager "problems" and "issues." I need to do a better job of recognizing and appreciating others, even in the smallest things. I need to do a better job of having a servant's heart, instead of expecting others to serve me.

Why I am blogging this? Because I think the act of admitting where I fall short is freeing and is a first step in working on the areas that need work, all 1,765,394 of them. And maybe, just maybe, someone else out there struggles with the same things as I do, and maybe, just maybe, they'll realize they're not alone in their faults.