Apologies, Clarifications, and Such 2

You ever say something that just didn’t come out right? Well, I wrote something that just didn’t come out right. In my last blog, “Stay Humble and Carry on”, I explained how God had blessed me. Then, I explained my shortcomings with humility. After that I explained how I cope with my shortcomings. And lastly, I explained how Jesus was the ultimate example in humility. However, I wrote a blog about humility and managed to sound anything, but humble, especially when I discussed my blessings…

Okay, update. I just re-read my blog again. Now I think that there are two issues with it. Firstly, as I said earlier, some things just didn’t come out right. I meant to say that I was arrogant in my younger days and became more humble when I started honoring God. Maybe I didn’t do that very effectively. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it may reflect my need to be more humble. I mean if my blog about humility sounds arrogant in a few places, I may have an issue with humility….just saying. It’s also ironic that my blog about humility has humbled me. Nothing like your own words coming back to bite you, huh?

On a somewhat related note, my newly discovered need for more humility brings up another point: there can be a fine line between confidence, which is a biblically endorsed asset and arrogance, which is the lack of humility. Sometimes the distinction is easy. The person who can’t stop talking about himself/herself is arrogant. The person who never admits mistakes is arrogant. The person who can’t value another person’s opinions is arrogant. But what about the fuzzy, gray area between confidence and arrogance? Did I cross the line when I spelled out my blessings in my previous post? Where is the line between confidence and arrogance? And when do we cross the line between confidence and arrogance? 

I simply don’t know the answers to the preceding questions. And I bet if we asked ten people, we’d get ten different answers. I just googled the difference between confidence and arrogance. While there were some good articles, we should be hesitant to ask “the world” about gray areas. I personally think “the world” errs on the side of arrogance. The best thing we can do is to follow Jesus’ example and to pray. I kinda wish I had prayed before publishing the last post. If we ask Him for guidance, he’ll tell us where the line is before we cross it.