Embrace Humility
Embrace Humility
By Bobbie Schaeperkoetter
This may sound like one of the oddest practices, but it is one I am finding particularly powerful in this new year. I am choosing to do something I am bad at. While it may seem counter-productive, allowing myself the grace to be bad at something is producing something incredibly good in me.
Maybe I should explain. I started guitar lessons the first week of January. Although I hoped that I would pick up the guitar and realize I have a natural gifting for it, that has not been the case. At all. Actually, what I am noticing is quite the opposite. I’m pretty terrible.
My mind takes a while to process the sheet music. My hands struggle to do two different things at the same time. It takes a ridiculous amount of focus for me to follow along with what my instructor is doing and I regularly have to pause and ask him to slow down and walk me through things one more time. I can’t quite figure out the coordination required to do all the things at once.
Now, I don’t say this in a self-deprecating way. Most people aren’t good at something they are brand new to. I know that if I keep taking lessons and am diligent to practice, I will eventually be better at the guitar. In the meantime, however, I see the value of being bad.
I naturally gravitate towards things I excel t. I think we all do. We like to feel successful. We enjoy being proficient. We don’t like to look foolish so most of us don’t like to do things that we aren’t good at.
Being bad at something is humbling and we typically don’t love feeling humbled. However, I do think there is value in choosing to intentionally put ourselves in situations where we’re invited into humility.
Proverbs 11:2 NLT says this, “Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”
It’s good for our souls to recognize our humanity and our limited abilities. When we intentionally step into places that invite us into a more humble posture, something powerful and beautiful happens.
We are able to practice grace, compassion, and gentleness with ourselves as we adjust our own expectations. We have the opportunity to engage patience, faithfulness, and endurance as we learn something new. We can cultivate a teachable spirit and a willingness to learn from others. We can learn to accept and even appreciate our limitations as we humbly grow.
As I practice the guitar, I’m learning to take myself a little less seriously. I’m learning to be grateful for the humility because it’s teaching me to find joy in all the miss-plucked notes and awful sounding twangs. I’m giving myself permission to be in process.
Maybe there’s something you’ve wanted to try but fear, insecurity, or pride has held you back. Let me offer you these words of encouragement… allowing yourself to be bad at something is actually really good for your soul.
Prayer
Father God, thank you that you care about our souls. Thank you that you love us enough to teach us humility. God, we recognize our own humanity, our own capacity, and our own limitations. We thank you that there are beautiful things to learn when we embrace humility. Help us to be gentle, compassionate, kind, and patient with ourselves. Help us to not take ourselves so seriously, but to find joy in the journey. Amen.
Scripture Meditation
Proverbs 11:2 NLT
“Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”
Journal Reflection
Is there something you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t because you have been afraid you’d not be good at it? What is it? What held you back? What would it look like to give yourself permission to humbly try anyway?
Practice
This week, try something new. Brush your teeth, eat, write, or even just hold your coffee cup with the opposite hand. As you do so, consider what it means to be a human being with limitations and a finite capacities. Treat yourself with compassion and embrace the humility this invites you into.