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HUMILITY, HEALING, AND PROGRESS

From the November 2008 issue of The Christian Science Journal


ENTER THE WORDS HUMILITY AND SUCCESS in a Google search on the Internet, and hundreds of references will show that humility is as much a valued source of success in the business world as in politics or religion. This raises the question why a humble thought should be a more effective asset than its opposite, pride.

The Bible provides interesting answers to this question. Numerous Biblical characters have illustrated the effectiveness of humility in overcoming difficulties. This quality of thought impelled them to seek answers within and discover the existence of the one God, infinite Spirit, omnipotent and omnipresent. They understood and proved that God was always present with them—that all their capabilities came from Him. As Paul explained in Second Corinthians 3:5, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God." Humility lies not in self–depreciation, but in recognizing God as the unique cause, always sufficient for all things, and ourselves as the complete and ever–capable effect of this perfect cause.

In the Old Testament, the great humility of Moses explains his success as a remarkable leader. His ability to liberate a whole people from slavery was due to his trust in and obedience to God. When Moses went to Pharaoh and asked for the children of Israel to leave Egypt, he didn't allow his difficulty in speaking, or his doubts about his own capacities, to hold him back. He humbly accepted God's promise: "Go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say" (Ex. 4:12). During the forty years that followed, Moses competently addressed the thousands of people he led through the desert to the Promised Land. He trusted completely in God to solve each difficulty they met on the way, such as the need for water and food.

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