There once was a humble man. He rightly assessed himself with truth and wisdom. He accepted himself, faults and all, and shared with others freely. His confidence was in his author. He was content in who his maker had made him to be.
When his life excelled, his survival was due to his creator. When his life went belly up in the darkness of despair, his maker held him from demise. He could survive all that he faced. He could do all things through his maker who strengthened him.
There once was a manipulative religious leader. She knew the humble man was set apart for glorious things. She judged him unfit, for his self-awareness suggested a lack of humility. Her network labored to take him down a few notches. They stripped him of money, home and relationships. They blocked him from any and all forms of success. They even found his Achilles heel and dropped him into a repetitive menagerie of daily pain. And finally, they teased him with lovers just out of his reach.
He survived. He cried. He humbly acknowledged his new place in life. He knew that he’d no longer shine as he was made to do, but instead testify to the actions of those that were made to support his creations. He endured for a dozen years, fighting to keep bitterness from tearing up his soul. He finally let go and accepted his new lot in life and waited for judgment day.
The manipulator was proud of her ability to play god in the man’s life. She saw him breaking and would soon announce his new humble status. But something was wrong and she’d have to delay her announcement.
The man stood firm in the face of agony and disgrace. He rightly divided the word of truth and still accepted himself in spite of circumstances. He again acknowledged that his creator made him for a glorious cause, as had been done for the man with a coat of many colors. And, his confidence remained not in himself, but continued to reside within his savior who strengthened him.
The manipulator was angry that the man’s humility did not look like her own. She was convinced it was “fake,” yet it survived the worst of emotional, physical and spiritual attacks. Could she be the barer of fake humility? She trembled at the thought. Her attempt to play god would soon be revealed—her status sinking beneath that of junk bonds.
The humble man simply lived his new life without the glorious gift his savior intended for him to share. No one missed the loving gift, for they never knew it was on its way. The future soon became bleak with no relief in sight because the humble man’s humility didn’t look like hers.
CJ's Corner 
I would rather be in the shadow of this broken, humble man than near the stink of an inauthentic, hauty “heroine.” What this man learned in a fraction of his life is more than this bully will ever hope to realize on earth. When she discovers the gifts she stole and the great works that she prevented–visions intended to encourage and enliven all who would lend their ear–sorrow and shame will envelop her very being.
But only in humility will she see the loss she caused, not only to the grieving man but to the grieving Creator.
Although this may have been a parable, I know the humble man will be elevated in a greater way by the One who knows all, protects all, and loves all.
This story is a poignant reminder that true humility is not an identity that someone else can give to us; it’s revealed in the way we endure life’s quiet trials. That humble man found his strength, not in convincing those who misunderstood him, nor in proving anything to them, but in remaining simply rooted in who he was created to be. What struck me was just how he kept his dignity even when everything else was taken away from him.
It also reveals an uncomfortable truth: that sometimes, the loudest speakers about humility are the ones who know it least. It wasn’t the harm the manipulator caused that was her demise, but the mirror she finally had to face. But the man’s humility came not in defeat; it came in a willingness to continue living integrously despite loss, pain, and misjudgment. I leave this story with a reflection of how humility is often quiet, often misunderstood, and always stronger than pride masquerading as righteousness.