Sloth 7 - HumilityNo Excuses.St. Joseph isn't given the exact title of "humility", but he is given the title of "Lover of Poverty". Being poor, going without, making it less about ourselves, and giving to others when we receive much, are certain characteristics of humility.This week we look at how the slothful person can be passive in nature, acting in false humility. They refuse God's mercy and embrace self-pity or a "poor is me" attitude.Lord, we praise and thank You. Please install in us a desire to be truly humble, like Joseph. To reject false humility and the attention it brings. Grant us the ability to embrace our anointing, our identity as sons of God, to recognize the gifts you have given us, and to use them generously without expecting anything in return. Help us to put others before ourselves, to take the lower place without drawing attention to ourselves. Take from us the desire to be praised, honored, or preferred over others as we continue to journey closer to heaven for our families.Avoid excusing ourselves as not good enough Avoid a fixed mindsetEmbrace a growth mindsetI imagine Joseph, as a creative man having a growth mindset. He needed this in order to figure out better ways to ply his trades. Methods that allowed him to be better and more efficient and effective in his work. He would then apply this to teaching Jesus to have the same mentality. This is not overconfidence, but rather a recognition of the gifts God wants to give to him/you, receiving them and using them.Is there something we are refusing to do for God because we lack confidence, think we are incapable or too weak to do? The bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:10 "Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong."As I have heard Fr. Burke Masters say, "Humility isn't thinking less of ourselves, it is think about ourselves less." He also spoke about how his dad told him as a young aspiring baseball player, and I am paraphrasing, that, "no one was better than him…and that he wasn't better than anyone else."Seek God before doing anything. Allow humility to right order your actionRefrain from sitting idly or being paralyzed Receive God's mercy, His gifts.Refrain from excessive grief of your sins and feel unworthy, this is the evil one's tactic to draw you into sloth, self-loathing, insecurity, putting our pitiful selves in a state of false humility. Be aware of defense mechanismsKeep from overvaluing the opinion of othersHave a healthy fear of the Cross and crucifixion. Allow the Lord to make our hearts ablaze with His love. Be prepared to work. Be prepared to lower ourselves and elevate Christ and others above us. Christ's sacrificial love frees us from fear because our security and worth are rooted in Him, not the opinions of others, or ourselves. Not in what we are capable of.Grow in our littleness, our true humility. To empty our cup, our hearts to make room for more love. God cannot pour into a full cup. Allow God to heal our fears and insecurities, our pride, our desire for control and appearances, and our insecurities.This way we rely on God and grow in His love that bears all suffering, allowing us to suffer better, to compliment others, even when we desire the compliment ourselves. To recognize the good works of others and refrain from pointing the spotlight on ourselves and what we have done. Doing this will cure us from being paralyzed by our domineering and tyrannical egos enabling us to rest securely in the love of Christ. In this way we can know we are loved, even when others reject us, rebuke, humiliate or forget us. Look to the Lord's Passion. You will know you are making progress when you see that life is not about you receiving power, honor, praise, and/or glory, but rather it is about rejoicing when someone else does something great and suffering well, unnoticed, with others when they struggle. This is the love Christ showed us on the Cross and the way to true freedom. True love and acceptance find joy in Christ and in giving love to others.St. Joseph is a great example of being secure in the love of Christ, of not needing to be in the spotlight or to have it be about him. Here is the man who, after Mary, has the most to brag about. He was the father of Jesus. Yet, we don't have one spoken word recorded by him in the entire bible. Do we think there were no amazing and noteworthy stories about Joseph, I cannot believe this. You do not get the title "Comfort of the Troubled" without having empathy and putting others first.Lord, deliver us from the fear of being corrected, slandered, forgotten, ridiculed, wronged, and helps us to love others more than we seek to be loved, to decrease in the eyes of the world to go unnoticed while others are preferred. Keep us from seeking approval of others, give us the strength to empty our cups, so that you may fill them more fully with your Love and that we may in turn share Your Love with others. Amen Subscribe at sonsofjoseph.substack.com