a small, dirty object?

I think Lewis misses the mark today in A Year with C.S. Lewis.

While I think he's right when he says that humility generally means forgetting about ourselves and focusing on others, I think he's mistaken when he says that it's best if we see ourselves as "a small, dirty object."

The reason why I think he's mistaken is because, as David Richo says above, humility is seeing things the way they really are. It's not false modesty, where I refuse to accept a compliment because to do so would be prideful. It's accepting that each of us, myself included, have strengths and weaknesses. But God sees us as creatures with inestimable worth. That doesn't sound like a "small dirty object" to me. And shouldn't we learn to see ourselves the way God sees us? Isn't that the ultimate reality?

This relates, I think, to the story of the thieves that were crucified with Jesus. They both had to face the reality of their situation. They were both caught and condemned as criminals. This is pretty humbling. But see how they responded differently to the situation. One of them is prideful all the way to the end... reviling Jesus and cursing Him. But the other is humble, accepting that his sentence was just, and humbly asking Jesus to remember him when He comes into His kingdom. And you know how that ended for him.

This teaches us a huge and profound lesson. You see, in every one of our lives, there is suffering. We all suffer. No life is exempt. What we DO with that suffering is up to us. We can learn from it, grow from it, allow it to shape us into the people God intended us to be. We can accept that suffering humbly, like the good thief on the cross. Or we can become proud and bitter and angry in our suffering, lashing out at everyone and everything, even those who are trying to help us. This is what the bad thief did.

What will you choose to do with your suffering?

Thank You, God, for using our suffering to make us good people... if we will only let You.