Humility can be false in two ways. A man may think too lowly or too highly of himself. When he considers himself more lowly than he ought, he beats himself down and claims he is less than God says he is. When he considers himself more highly than he ought, he puffs himself up and thinks of himself as more than God says he is.

Thinking too lowly of oneself is an easy path. We are indeed lowly, sinful, in need of infinite help, and unable to remedy our deepest ills, but we are also sanctified in Christ and called to be saints (1 Cor. 1:2). When a man thinks too lowly of himself, he tends toward inaction. He will never set his feet on the path of action for God’s kingdom. “Who am I,” he asks, “to assume such lofty ambitions?” 

The man who forsakes the command to be a doer, and not a hearer only (James 1:22), deceives himself and neglects his assignments under a cloud of self-doubt and harmful, unbiblical self-abasement.

On the other hand, a man who thinks too highly of himself is often busy with much doing! He wants accolades but must arrange to receive them by many happy accidents. He must carefully manipulate situations and people so that they trip into admiring him while he appears to rebuff their admiration. He must do this so that people never see his real self, who craves attention, admiration and even a certain measure of fame. He must appear to be humble at all costs, so that his pride may grow in secret.

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