Many Church Fathers have examined
the issue of humility within a Christian context. Here St. Clement of Rome in
his First Epistle to the Corinthians(Chapter XIII.) explains:
“Let us therefore, brethren, be
of humble mind, laying aside all haughtiness, and pride, and foolishness, and
angry feelings; and let us act according to that which is written (for the Holy
Spirit said, ‘Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty
man glory in his might, neither let the rich man glory in his riches; but let
him that glorieth glory in the Lord, in diligently seeking Him, and doing
judgement and righteousness’), being especially mindful of the words of the
Lord Jesus which He spoke, teaching us meekness and long-suffering. For thus He
spoke: ‘Be ye merciful, that ye may obtain mercy; forgive, that it may be
forgiven to you; as ye do, so shall it be done unto you; as ye judge, so shall
ye be judged; as ye are kind, so shall kindness be shown to you; with what
measure ye mete, with the same it shall be measured to you’. By this precept
and by these rules let us establish ourselves, that we walk with all humility
in obedience to His holy words. For the holy word said, ‘On whom shall I look,
but on him that is meek and peaceable, and that trembles at My words’.
(Chapter XVII). Let us be
imitators also of those who in goat-skins and sheep-skins went about
proclaiming the coming of Christ; I mean Elijah, Elisha, and Ezekiel among the
prophets, with those others to whom a like testimony is borne (in Scripture).
Abraham was specially honoured and was called the friend of God; yet, he
earnestly regarding the glory of God, humbly declared, ‘I am dust and ashes’.
Moreover, it is thus written of Job, ‘Job was a righteous man, and blameless,
truthful, God-fearing, and one that kept himself from all evil’. But bringing
an accusation against himself, he said, ‘No man is free from defilement, even
if his life be but of one day’. Moses was called faithful in all God’s house,
and through his instrumentality, God punished Egypt with plagues and tortures.
Yet he, through this greatly honoured, did not adopt lofty language, but said,
when the divine oracle came to him out of the bush, ‘Who am I, that Thou
sendest me? I am a man of a feeble voice and a slow tongue’. And again he said,
‘I am but as the smoke of a pot’”.
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