The Art of Humility

'Submission by force is not submission at all’

Humility is defined as the quality or condition of being humble;  modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance, rank.  Adisposition to be humble; a lack of false pride, the quality or state of being humble.

Submission is defined as the action or fact of accepting or yielding to a superior force or to the will or authority of another person.

Lowliness of mind, humility, is a mental quality which enables its possessor to look up with appreciation, not only their Master, but others, recognizing their good qualities. This lowliness of mind should be in allsubmissives; this fact proves it to be a quality that demands careful cultivation.  Not all submissives are lowly in mind. Some of them think more highly of themselves than they ought to think. Some of them may be proud of having served well or of their ability to serve well. Any such pride is very objectionable in the sight of the Dominant, and indicates that its possessor has a very small mind; for, with a proper estimate of matters, the best of us can see that we have nothing of which to be proud, nothing of which to boast. If we have received anything, we should boast of our receipts, instead of glorying in something as if we had attained itourselves.

Humility is required because we have nothing whatever of which to be proud or to boast.  Whatever we have has been given to us by our Master, thus it is His pride not ours.  So the Dominant should spend earnest effort to stimulate and encourage humility. Some have this quality naturally; but the larger number have to contend against the reverse tendency--        self-esteem, self-exaltation, pride--a feeling that they are superior to others.

Humble ourselves

To humble ourselves does not necessarily mean to think that we have no talent, no power, no ability. Such an attitude would be foolishness. But we should think soberly of ourselves. We should think of all oursanctions as coming from our Dominant. So if we find that we have some blessings more than our neighbor or our brother or our sister, let us be thankful; but let us not for a moment think that we have anything to make us proud. It is a gift.  We should appreciate the gift, but we should not be puffed up over its possession. The fact that we have received the gift indicates that we lacked it, needed it.  Thus again our Master has proven His worth in Dominance over us.

The one who has naturally a proud heart, but who brings himself to the point of submission, manifests humility. If, on the other hand, one who by nature has too low an estimate of themself, will still submit themself,and the Master will show them the proper attitude of mind.

Biblically, the Apostle speaks of those who receive the Holy Spirit as having the "spirit of a sound mind." In proportion as we seek to become acquainted with our Master and to submit ourselves to His will, in that same proportion we become balanced in mind. We become more and more sane, if you please. Thus we are getting the balance of a sound mind, the spirit of a sound mind. Our reasoning faculties become more developed as we grow in grace and in the knowledge of the true submission taught to us by our Master. We must admit that we need ourMaster, and that without Him we can do nothing. So we take this position: "i am nothing but what i am as seen through the eyes of my Master; i know that i am imperfect, that i have nothing which i have not received. Master provides everything; whatever i have is a gift from Him.Knowing all this, i gratefully accept these things, and humble myself under His mighty hand."

The world says, "No! I will not submit myself; if I need any punishment I will take what is coming to me." Such is the spirit of a worldly heart that has not yet learned its need and its impotence. But the spirit of a consecrated heart is that of submission to the will of their Master. Such recognize that their only source of help is at the hand of their Master.Such a course would evidence real humility, no matter how proud-spirited one might be by nature. As they would progress in the good way, and see more clearly wherein they had made mistakes, their humility would increase. So we are to submit ourselves, humble ourselves, have no will of our own, but merely seek our Master’s will.

​Scenario

​​Finding myself many times being a good girl for several days if not even weeks.  i am given more freedom to roam in the yard.  But then it comes, a situation where another is put before me.  Then i forget my place, my position in submission.  Pride takes over and i am looking to see what i am going to get in return.  Completely forgetting what i have already been given.  First i have to remember my mantra “Who does this body belong to?  Master; Who does this heart belong to? Master; Who does this mind belong to?  Master”  It becomes a moment of “What would Master do?”.  Then breathe and most likely bow.  This is the only way i can process getting back to my humble center.  Being human is one thing, i will lose my grounding, but over time the trust in my place will help my humility to grow in strength and the times between my spins lessen.  Typically i am very hard on myself knowing i havedisappointed or hurt Master during this process, but He hasfaith in me and knows my strength and willingness will keep me growing.

Forced Humility

When the response of submission is forced, it ceases to be submission because it must be a willing act from the heart to make it genuine.  So when humility has to be forced on a submissive to not only define their place but to remind them of their position, it is not submission at all.  A submissive mind seeks to uplift another, rather than focusing on how it can be uplifted.  In the spirit of humility, we will give, seeking nothing in return.  This is the platform to greatness, the heart that is worthy of exaltation, for which the Master will reward.  

Pride is a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired. A feeling of self-respect and personal worth.

How satisfying is it to “feel a deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements”?  We spend a  lot of time trying tofeed our soul instead of giving.  Until we get hungry again for that next thrill of self achievement. Which might be as soon as tomorrow, and that fleeting.  It is tiring massaging our own egos.  It’s not measuring up to the sustaining nourishment we get when submitting or obeying the will of someone who means something to us.  We act with pride out of fear of not having the strength to stand on our own.  We forget we are not on our own and we have the great strength of our Master, they are with us and for the good in us.  We don’t live for ourselves we live now for our Master.

It brings about the term ‘pass under the yoke’.  To make a humiliating submission; to be humbly forced to acknowledge one’s defeat. In ancient Rome vanquished enemies were forced to pass under an arch formed by two spears placed upright in the ground, with a third resting on them. This was a symbol of the even older practice of placing a yoke on the neck of a captive.

Warnings of how harmful forced humility can be. Warnings of how assured of my identity in my Master i must be. Warning of how anything else will just defer my destiny.

Also warnings of how i must spend time with Master, i believe this is where any source of security comes from. When we get so self-absorbed that what seemed like humility fast became about self.Spending time at the feet of our Master is our only hope.

When it takes humiliation or forced reverence to submit it becomes a behavior being forced on another verse a willing act of submission.  This forced humbling will either enlighten the subject to submit humbly on their own or it will become an alter who’s flame continues to burn out and has to be lit by others, thus it is not their flame to begin with.

“Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled;

and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted” (Matthew 23:12).

Scenario

​​Mind games are very good in training my pride.  Naturallyone who is prideful, it hurts that pride when i am tested and i fail.  Worried about the outcome not the process, i don’t focus on the journey it takes to get to the end result.  Trying to give in or manipulate to get the result i want becomes a frustratingendeavor only sending me deeper into a spin.  Then the alter egocomes out and honestly just doesn’t care anymore.  Giving up on it all, humility is gone, pride is hurt and i am a shell.  Feeling broken to the core.  It takes the forced hand and a punishment of force or creativity to force me to look past myself.  Not only did i not accomplish the original challenge, i have been prideful andgiven up on my place.  Leaving Master’s side and not trusting in His direction.  He has to force me to care to get back to center.  There are gentle moments where He gives me warnings trying to nudge me back into the fence but it ends up taking the forced kick in the ass to throw me back into submission.  So it brings about the thought, was i submissive at all.  Now of course i am.  Growing from that instance and so many others.  We all have to learn and grow.  But i have learned to remember my place and it is being true to myself to humble myself.  Always rememberingthat it is Him who i serve.  Existing for Him and His pleasure.  If i want the joys and pleasures i desire, i need to strive to serve in the fashion that they are gifted to me as i deserve nothing, what i am given is a gift by Him.

A Bound Relationship in Humility

The humility of a relationship is more fluid if one submits because they love Him, because they are deeply respected, because it was vowed to put His needs over their own.  It is more meaningful to humbly submit because of those reasons and not just because it was their “place” in the hierarchy of the relationship.  An attitude of humility is necessary for true, heartfelt submission.  

We are to imitate Christ, who “although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant…” (Philippians 2).   As a submissive we are part of, an extension of, our Master but we are not equal, we are a bound servant.  The essence of submission, then, is not the absence of power but the voluntary relinquishing of it.  It’s not about sticking to a prescribed hierarchy; it’s about walking in humility.