Sin, Grace & Humility

"I fear that there are not a few who, by strong expressions of self-condemnation and self-denunciation, have sought to humble themselves, and have to confess with sorrow that a humble spirit, a "heart of humility," with its accomplishments of kindness and compassion, of meekness and forbearance, is still as far off as ever. Being occupied with self, even amid the deepest self-abhorrence, can never free us from self."

If humility is not merely thinking less of self, but thinking of self less, then Murray has hit the nail on the head. This goes along with a Tim Keller article I read some time ago in Christianity Today. He writes that humility, or "blessed self-forgetfulness", does not come to us by thinking a lot about humility. It comes by meditating on the grace of God. I'm starting to see that when I grasp just how amazing the grace of God is I will be humbled, and in that humility I will be more likely to be gentle, patient and loving towards others.