The gospel in words: 'Humility,' part 1

�Humility� comes from the root word which means �of the earth.� This is the same root for the word humus, which is complex soil made up in part of organic matter. Hence also, the Latin word for man, which is homo, hence �dust thou art.� Though the Hebrew for man is not connected to the word earth, nevertheless �the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground� (Genesis 2:7).

Humility, or humble, is defined as �having a low estimate of one�s importance, worthiness, or merits; marked by the absence of self-assertion or self-exaltation; lowly: the opposite of proud� (Oxford English Dictionary). Humility also has the sense of a lowly condition or someone who is modest and unpretentious.

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