Humility on the rise

I remember watching an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger (yes, the “I’ll be back” man turned Governor), and at some point in the interview, he was asked about steroids. He quickly condemned them and talked about how they should be banned.

I remember thinking how that was probably the right answer, and yet it didn’t feel right, mostly because the man who said it had more than likely used them to get where he was.

In other words, the very material that he had used to build the platform wouldn’t be available for others to build their platforms.

At this point, let’s quickly move away from Arnold, muscles, and steroids because they really should be banned. The takeaway isn’t about the presence of steroids, but the absence of humility in our successes.

It’s easy to appear humble when we’re just starting out, and flying under the radar. It’s a whole other thing to stay humble on the rise, and even beyond the rise. Humility might have answered the question with an honest admission like, “I recognize that my stance against steroids now may appear hypocritical, but I’ve learned more than I knew then, and I admire those who are working in bodybuilding now without them.”

Too often, we use things to get to a place where we no longer need those things, and then throw shade at the very things we used. To simplify the point, humility never forgets where it came from, but humble beginnings aren’t enough. We need humble middles and humble endings, too.

So start humble, for sure, but stay humble, too. Never give God a reason to tear down the platform on which you’re standing.

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