Being humble enough to love

What a fantastic, and fantastically busy, week it’s has been.  The week was capped off by Family “Day”, which more like family weekend for many of us here.  Don’t worry, we have visitors of friends and family throughout the year; however, the Saturday is specifically geared towards the appreciation of family in their role supporting our individual vocations.  Everything’s going fairly well, although time is rushing by quite quickly and it will be time for final exams before I know it.  Oh, I also got to watch last night’s episode of Doctor Who, which was quite brilliant, and the conclusion was brilliant, though a little sad.  Unfortunately, all Whovians (including myself) will have to wait until the Christmas Special to see the next episode for this season; while I will be awaiting it, perhaps a tad bit impatiently, I know the wait is going to be worth it.  Also, Nebraska beat Wisconsin last night, though it was a close one.  It was a win though and that’s what I like to see from the Huskers.

And transition…Now!  Last week I did my best to lay a foundation for the future posts, which was conveniently involved in the title of the post.  So, love…a glorious, amazing, sometimes painful phenomenon.  I’m not speaking solely about the emotion that can make itself known (which is a splendid experience), rather it is the conviction of love.  It’s the knowledge that while you may not get along with a person, and perhaps never will again, you will always love that person.  Because, as mentioned two posts ago, love is desiring the best for the other person, wanting that person to be in Heaven.
So, what does humility have to do with love?  They are two different aspects of the Christian life, how do they go together?  Well, it would seem to me that the first step is asking how do we even know how to love?  We see how people (especially our mothers) love us when we are babies and young children, so we start to see love expressed.  It is by seeing that love expressed that we begin to understand how to love and how to express it.  But how did humanity learn what love is and how to love in the first place?  God loved us (and continues to love us) first; if He had not shown us, we would not have known.  That can be tough to swallow, as we like to think nurturing is loving.  Really all nurturing does is try to ensure the continued existence of the human race through the education and upbringing of one’s offspring.  Nurturing in and of itself does not guarantee love, although one can lovingly nurture one’s children.  Although, without God instilling the nurturing quality in the human race in the beginning we would not have that ability either.  Again, it’s not necessarily easy to understand and that is why it requires humility.

Other people loving us allows us to grow in humility as well.  Sometimes it’s really hard to understand how we are lovable and we question how anybody can love us.  It is then that we try to start driving those others away because when we wonder how anybody can love us, it’s a sure sign that we don’t love ourselves.  So what’s the remedy for this? Maybe you should ask why those people love you, what qualities you have, what is it about yourself that is so special.  This exercise isn’t meant to be fishing for compliments, it’s meant to really get a handle on being able to affirm your value.  Maybe there are people that just throw up their hands and say, “I don’t really know why I love you, I just know that I do!”  We’re made in the image and likeness of God, right? Right.  So, in each other we should be able to see the image and likeness of God, even though we don’t always realize it.  There are also times we don’t realize what we’re seeing, even though it is there.  When we realize that others see the reflection of God in us, it should be a very humbling thing.  Even through all of our sins, misdeeds, and mistakes, people see the image of God in us.  It’s beautiful and calls us to living Christ-like lives.

What about the other way around?  How does humility feed into love?  Pride doesn’t allow us to love because when we are prideful, we are concerned how we can possess and use others.  Pride allows me to think that I am the most important person in the world and that, really, I should be making all of the decisions.  After all, I am the best, most perfect, smartest, wisest, most beautiful person in the world and everybody else exists to serve me.  However, when I am humble, I realize how I can serve God and others with the talents I have been given by God.   When I am humble, I also realize the value that others have and the fact that they too were made in the image of God.  When I am prideful, I don’t know how to love, I am concerned with taking.  Humility allows me to realize that I am creature, not the Creator.  I am unhappy when I am prideful, as I’m only concerned with how I can get ahead of everybody else or the fact that everybody should like me.  Humility allows me to love and help others when they are having problems, and even if I don’t like the individual, he or she is a person too.  Just as I am, every other person is created in the image and likeness of God, and is more complex than I would like to think at times.
This may seem somewhat elementary and basic, but so be it, it’s been rattling around in me all week and I had to get it out.  Whether it was, or wasn’t, I hope you enjoy it or get something out of it.

So, I’m going to close with a Taylor Swift song, as it was the one that popped into my mind.  It seems to be relatable; while it’s about never growing up, I totally see the idea of never allow yourself to grow prideful.  Maybe it’s a stretch, but I really think it fits, as well as a chance to play a Taylor Swift song, it’s win-win.  God bless you all!