When you buy a box of crayons all the colors are crisp and clean with pointed ends and neat wrappers. After just a short time if you open the box you will find crayons that fit into three categories. The first consists of a handful of pristine crayons that have rarely been used; the tips are still sharp and the wrappers appear new. The second group, the largest of the three, no longer appear new. The tips are slightly rounded and wrappers slightly scuffed. The final group contains the smallest number of crayons. These are the workhorses, the crayons you go to time and again. The wrappers are gone, the tips are nonexistent, and many are broken in half.
Our character qualities are like the crayons. Each is important, but some are used more than others. Of all of these qualities, humility is among the most important because it provides a backdrop for so many others. If arrogance destroys relationships, humility is the bridge that restores them. Humility is found in the acknowledgement that our lives are intertwined with others. It includes the recognition that others have made investments in our lives that we cannot fully repay. Humility allows us to see the people who have come before us and upon whose efforts we are now standing The result of the is not simply gratefulness, it is the realization that our quality of life is linked to the quality of our relationships. When we understand the value of others we will more fully invest in others because we recognize such an investment is always worth the cost.
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty conceit, but in humility regard others as more important than yourselves, do not merely look out for your own personal interest, but also for the interests of others.
Philippians 2: 3-4
