Humility Or Humiliation

How can such similar thoughts be so very different? Both have to do with appearing “less than.” But the differences are many:

Humility is when someone is asked to take a back seat, and the person realizes that is not a reflection of his/her true value. It is the belief that by taking a lesser role and serving the roles of others we are imitating the character of God and advancing His kingdom by faith. Humiliation is the feeling a person may have when they are asked to take the back seat.

Humility is a decision; the ability to set aside feelings and think less of oneself than of others; to be aware of their needs and attentive to them instead of merely thinking of one’s own desires or needs. Humiliation is a mixture of feelings that can produce a variety of behaviors: anger may lead to retaliation, shame may lead to isolation, embarrassment may produce retaliation, defensiveness that stems from pride, or even humility that reflects a greater concern for others who are involved.

Humility costs in advance: it must be exercised daily for it to gain any strength in one’s life. It pays in arrears: one reason we use it so little is because the benefits are not always clear and they almost always go unnoticed by others. Humility is closely related to meekness and so is often seen by others as weakness. Humiliation costs in the moment and later, but our reaction to our humiliation can make a difference to the cost – self-control and graciousness toward others (both of which are produced by humility) can actually pay more than the cost.

Jesus chose to exercise humility long before his public humiliation. (cf. Philippians 2:1-11, John 5:31-47) It was his mastery of humility that allowed him to humbly say, “Father forgive them.”