Humility: the Glory of the Creature

Humility is not one of many virtues; it is the soil out of which all the others grow. Without it, faith is presumption, love is condescension, and service is performance.

And what is humility? It is the simple acknowledgement that we are creatures, made by God, kept by God, useful for God's purposes alone. There is no abasement in such humility — only truth. The creature glorifies the Creator by being a creature, gratefully.

Pride hides itself under many names. It calls itself confidence, or ambition, or self-respect. The humble Christian learns to detect it under all its disguises, and to bring it again and again to the cross. He knows that the moment he forgets he is a creature, he begins to resist the very grace that would save him. God resisteth the proud — but to the humble he gives himself.