I came across this yesterday in The Cloud of Unknowing, a 14th century spiritual classic.

Humility is seeing yourself as you really are.

Pride is a facet of the false self. It is to see yourself falsely. In our pride, we set ourselves up as little “gods” and “goddesses” over our lives, calling all the shots, sovereign in our rule. According to the Bible, this is the ancient temptation, going all the way back to Eden. We are always tempted to elevate ourselves to this god-like status.

But humility is seeing through the false self. Here we accept the reality of the true self; we acknowledge who we really are without pretense. We acknowledge our limitations, our faults, our great need. Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount by saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Humility is the first step in receiving the Kingdom. It is seeing ourselves in our sin and seeing Jesus as our Savior.

This kind of humility is transformative. But it begins with seeing yourself as you really are.