What became of the virtue of humility? It is being passed over today in total silence. Pride, which used to be ranked as one of the “seven deadly sins,” has kicked humility to the curb. It has become in one author’s words, “a weakness or character flaw.”
In seventeenth-century England, humility was regarded as an essential Christian virtue. Jeremy Taylor (1613-1662) called humility “the great jewel of the Christian religion.” This influential Anglican priest wrote a definitive guide in 1650 on how to live with humility in the presence of God. He titled it The Rule and Exercise for Holy Living. Incidentally, he wrote a sequel called–are you ready for this? —The Rule and Exercise for Holy Dying. Today’s death-denying culture would probably lobby to have it banned from library shelves.
Jeremy devoted a major section of his Holy Living book to the practice of humility. He identified nineteen rules for how to promote humility. Rules like “Never say anything directly or indirectly that will evoke praise” or “Do not constantly try to excuse all your faults” or “Be content when you see or hear that others are doing well in their jobs and with their income, even when you are not.” (You can google “Rules for the Grace of Humility” for the entire list.) His comments on humility remind me of something Rick Warren wrote in The Purpose Driven Life, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”
The following prayer from Jeremy Taylor’s Holy Living asks God to show us our rightful place: