Reflection
Let’s look at the final line of today’s Gospel:
“Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
-Luke 18:14
We’ve all met people with massive egos. I once asked a particularly self-important acquaintance if he’d rather always be right or always be kind. He looked at me blankly and said, “I don’t understand the question.”
For the “exalted,” being right is often their top priority. But chasing status is exhausting. Honestly, where is the peace in being the guy on the pedestal? You’re stuck exiling yourself in exclusivity, paying exorbitant prices for exhibitionism, and constantly risking embarrassment through ego-driven extravagances. Nobody wants to be the emperor who’s strutting around thinking he looks great, only for everyone to notice he isn’t wearing any clothes. As the verse warns, the exalted will be humbled.
Conversely, there is a surprising amount of freedom in choosing humility. It’s not just a virtue; it’s a strategy for happiness.
By letting go of status and the need to constantly compare ourselves to others, we trade the noise of the ego for a quiet, contented mind.
Instead of fighting to be right, we get to be curious. We can be flabbergasted by how brilliant other people are. We even gain a superpower: the ability to de-escalate conflict with humble responses like, “You know, you’re right. I hadn’t thought about it that way.”
That kind of quiet, humble life doesn’t just feel better—it leads to blessed exaltation from on high that is truly delicious, peaceful, and lasting.
“True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.”
— C.S. Lewis
