Humility in Action

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 

Matthew 23:12 (ESV)

THESIS: SADNESS IS INSPIRATIONAL

Is sadness inspirational? What's the alternative?

Perhaps many of you would say that sadness just is. It has no meaning inherent in and of itself—that it is merely a physiological response of our bodies to some kind of stimulus. 

I've written about my junior-year struggles in detail on this blog, but perhaps I could share with you my favorite New Testament verse:

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.  

Romans 5:3-5, (ESV)

But, even if suffering has no inherent meaning, it would be unfair to suggest that our suffering and day-to-day trials do not help us grow and learn. After all, it was Jesus who cried out in Gethsemane—Christians believe that Jesus' suffering and death redeemed all of mankind. 

If you don't want to believe that, then fine. But that's no reason to discount the value of trial and error. Of course mistakes hurt. But the only way we can learn is through making mistakes. As Rocky Balboa says to his son in the video above, "you gotta be willin' to take the hits." You've got to "keep moving forward." You can't just stop pursuing your dream when "things get hard."

What's the solution to depression and sadness? Radical acts of love. 

I'm not saying only action will bring you out, but it seems to me that acting (talking/sharing a meal with someone, crying, reading/listening/appreciating art, and, in this author's humble opinion, prayer) both aggravates and lessens suffering. 


But we've known this all along. Lord Tennyson writes:

And in the midmost heart of grief
Thy passion clasps a secret joy 

In Memoriam (LXXXVIII, lines 7-8)

In the midst of grief, our passion holds on to a secret joy. The testing of Christians' faith produces steadfastness (James 1:2-4, ESV). In all our affliction, we are overflowing with joy (2 Corinthians 7:4).

But of course, if we act in order to lessen our suffering/sadness, then we (as Christians, religious people and nonbelievers) should act carefully. Sometimes, the hardest person to love in your life is going through the hardest time. Suffering embitters. Perhaps that's a powerful variable in why people commit acts of violence—they're retaliating out of some hurt they've gone through.


We should act out of love. We should serve others. We should make ourselves less and others greater. But of course, this is something we all know. And we've known this since we were children.

And funnily enough, Paul knew this simple fact thousands of years ago:

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 

Philippians 2:3 (ESV)