Mahaney’s Humility – A Mini Review

Many Christian books are nice little treatises on things you already know, already agree with, and happily nod about without much life change.  Some are educational, but not necessarily transformative.  C.J. Mahaney’s Humility, thankfully, does not fall into either negative category.  In this brief work from one of the T4G guys, readers gain knowledge, receive practical advice, and feel powerful conviction.

Normally I’d be breaking this down into what I liked, what I disliked, and a set of recommendations.  I don’t, however, have any real complaints, so I’m just going to share with you the three main points I love about this book.

Mahaney is wonderfully gospel-centered.  C.J. recognizes that the most important aid in our humility is not a set of prescribed exercises.  No, the cross is the most important way for us to become more humble.  As we allow our minds to again ponder the fact that our sin is so vile, so ugly, so evil, and so costly that it could only be paid for by the brutal death of the Son of god in concert with the Father’s outpouring of his wrath, we are humbled, wonderfully humbled.

Mahaney also teaches well that humility is not merely a virtue that we might want to cultivate among many others.  Instead, he argues well that pride is our greatest enemy and that humility, therefore, must be our best friend.  If we want joy in our Christian lives, we must cultivate humility.

This work also contains many very helpful tips.  Mahaney offers practical advice in a winsome way to point Christians toward developing godly humility.  The advice is the kind of stuff that average folks can really do, but not so simplistic that fairly mature believers can’t learn a thing or two.

The bottom line here is that I am very fond of Humility.  Mahaney did a good job.  He’s fun, funny, helpful, humble, and piercing.  If you are a believer in Christ, you can definitely benefit from spending some time with C.J. and working to rid yourself of pride and cultivate humility.