A humble person wants to feel just as good about themselves as a prideful person, but a humble person has another desire that is even stronger - the desire for the truth.  

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“Humble” is not a state of perfection.  It is a state of progression.    

 

A humble person will still struggle with prideful attitudes, and will still have to kick themselves for making prideful decisions from time to time.  But a humble person will generally progress toward a more accurate belief about themselves and about the world around them. The more a person values the truth, the faster the progression.  

 

A humble person may not admit the truth all the time, but if they have twisted or denied reality in a situation, it will trouble their conscience until they make it right.    We are all deceived in many ways, but God knows who will value the truth enough to admit the truth if He reveals it to them.  God shines his light on the dark areas of these people’s lives, and draws them to Himself by showing them what is distorting their perception of reality.    

 

A distorted picture of life will result in a distorted understanding of the One who created it.  Humility is the choice He has given each of us to accept reality as what it is, but the reality of our own actions and motives can be difficult to admit sometimes.  And why?  Because we all want to think of ourselves as a good person, but we don’t always do good things.  

 

The Bible often refers to truth as “light” because light reveals things that have been hidden.  God offers us the possibility of a brighter light every time our self-image gets challenged.  If we value how we feel about ourselves too much, we will miss the opportunity to see what He wants to show us.  If we value the truth, even when it makes us feel like a jerk, we accept the opportunity He is giving us to see ourselves and our Creator more clearly.  

 

“This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  “But he who practices the truth comes to the Light…” (John 3:19-21a)  

 

The Bible talks a lot about “light”.  It even gives Him a name.  “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." (John 8:12) 

 

Jesus made some incredibly bold statements.  This is one I’d rather not examine in the darkness of my own self-deception.