thoughts on humility
The pursuit of knowledge and wisdom should lead to humility. A heart that truly seeks wisdom finds its own finiteness. A head-sized brain cannot fathom the full depths of God. The more you know, the more you realize how much you don’t know. With God, an ever-constant invitation to wonder and mystery awaits. We only see dimly and we should know and embrace that.
Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Sometimes we pride ourselves on a Greek word study of a beloved verse, only to remember that the Greek itself was passed down through the painstaking work of scholars, men and women who devoted decades to grouping manuscripts, comparing text families, and discerning where mistakes may have crept in. Even there, trust becomes inevitable. Unless we were present ourselves, holding the parchments, we must place trust in translators, scholars, and centuries of careful hands.
Perhaps we will find that trust is woven into the pursuit of truth. That beauty and wonder triumph over rationality. That childlike trust is not weakness, but the doorway back to joy.
Being a child of God is an invitation not only to think, but to feel. God’s love surpasses knowledge. And since that love surpasses knowledge, it must mean an experiential knowing, a love we feel. Feeling loved by God is not optional; it is necessary to be filled with His fullness, as the Apostle Paul writes. For if God is love, then only in receiving that love deeply can we truly be filled with Him.
Pursuing wisdom should also make us gentle. Harshness is a mark of a wounded soul. Some of my favorite people are those who have walked through deep pain, yet chosen to heal through inner work, prayer, and counsel. They are often the most tender, the most compassionate. Pain, when faced rather than avoided, becomes a beautiful balm. Brokenness bends hardness into softness.
Jesus loved broken people. He cherished the lavish oil of a prostitute, yet rebuked the cold piety of the Pharisees. He asked that her story of love and tears be told wherever the gospel is preached.
Embracing my own brokenness has made me more humble. It helps me see people not as ordinary interactions, but as souls carrying stories no one else on earth could replicate. Every story is unique. Every wound shapes a lens. Judgment, then, can give way to curiosity and empathy.
The pursuit of wisdom and the pursuit of healing both lead to humility. And in humility, love begins to flow, like a river returning to its source, we learn to love as our Father loves.