Building Character in Your ChildSample

Humility

By Lisa Lakey

In the 2016 Summer Olympics, those watching the women’s qualifying track trials witnessed something shocking in today’s world.

During the 5,000-meter race, New Zealand runner Nikki Hamblin fell, taking American Abbey D’Agostino down with her. D’Agostino got up, saw Hamblin still lying on the ground, and then reached out to her. Putting her hand on Hamblin’s shoulder, she encouraged her to get up and finish the race. 

D’Agostino didn’t consider herself, or her goals, as more important than Hamblin. Due to her act of humility, both women finished the race.

Humility can be a hard trait to instill in our children. After all, we are all born with a selfish, sinful nature. Someone once said humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking about yourself less. So how do we teach our naturally self-inclined children to think less about themselves? Here are some ideas.

Help them get to know a shining example of humility—Jesus. From His birth to His death, Jesus’s life modeled humility. Dive into Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John with your kids and learn about their ultimate role model, one who put others first in everything He did. One thing they will learn is this—at the heart of humility is a dependence upon and recognition of who God is.

Model humility. Humility is a hard concept for young kids to comprehend, especially in words. Your children will learn so much more through seeing your own selfless sacrifices. Are you putting your family in front of your own wants and needs? 

Point their natural gifts back to God. It’s okay for kids to admit having an amazing talent. God’s gifts weren’t made to be hidden. Some make the mistake of thinking that in order to foster humility, we should berate our children. Not only does that fail in fostering humility, it’s also harmful to a child’s understanding of his value in God’s eyes. Instead, redirect your child’s thinking by point them to the one who gave them their gifts: “God made you an amazing artist!” 

Teach them to be servants. It’s a lot harder to think about yourself when you focus on the needs of others. There are many ways to serve as a family, such as, organizing a food pantry, cleaning the church, doing behind-the-scenes work for the good of others. This is how they learn to “think about themselves less.”

Scripture tells us, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). None of us wants to knowingly lead our children into destruction. We want kids that finish the race as Paul spoke of when he said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).

To learn more about building a spirit of humility read, What Are You Wearing on FamilyLife.com.