On Humility

Today my focus is on humility, and tomorrow, I will be writing about simplicity, which is a characteristic of humility.  We hear the words humble and humility often, but sometimes I think it is confusing because there are several, almost conflicting, meanings.  Humility comes from the Latin word "humilis" which literally mans low.  In other words if one feels humility they felt meek, inferior or submissive.  However, there a phrase in the Bible that says, "the meek shall inherit the earth." Meek in this sense means a disposition to be patient and long suffering, and often means a life of taking care of others.  This in itself is a good thing and doesn't imply the person is inferior or submissive.  This is also the case of the other uses of humble and humility.  In today's world, being humble, for example, can mean having a modest, unassuming opinion or estimate of one's own importance.  Like the athlete who earns the title of most valuable player and says, "thank you, but I couldn't have done it without my teammates." Another description of the word is that a humble person is a simple, easy going person who is easy to get a long with and doesn't create conflict.  Humility can be a feature of a person's personal nature as in a feeling:  "he was filled with humility at the sight of seeing the wondrous colors of the rainbow." Or, humble, used as an adjective, "in my humble opinion," meaning in a respectful or courteous manner.  The opposite of humble is arrogant or vain.