Author: Richard Bahr

Richard Bahr is a life-long resident of Minnesota having grown up in the Twin Cities area. For 21 years he was President of and partner in a successful manufacturing firm. He now coaches business leaders, helping them find success while leading balanced lives. Due to his own life experiences coupled with a passion for service, Bahr has been involved with organizations that provide a “second chance” to those in need. In 2013, he co-founded a social ministry with his wife, Carla, called Threshold to New Life. The organization’s mission is to provide both short-term relief to the homeless, as well as to give assistance to those at risk of losing housing, effectively reducing homelessness. Bahr has personally delivered over 30,000 pairs of socks to his “friends” in the street as a means of meeting the homeless, learning names and establishing relationships. He spends evenings in homeless shelters, under bridges and in camps connecting with, encouraging and helping to meet the basic needs of “the least of these”. He also operates as a volunteer Chaplain at local homeless shelters. Bahr co-founded The Food Drive Challenge (now re-branded as Corporations Feeding America) which provides tools, tips and techniques for business to conduct staff-drive food drives to support their local communities. He serves at and coordinates the volunteers for 2.4 Ministries which provides a daily breakfast and fellowship a Minneapolis homeless shelter. He also volunteers at Project 6:8 providing a weekly, home cooked meal under the 394 bridge west of Dunwoody College. In addition, he is a founding member of and served as President of the Hennepin Technical College Foundation for 16 years at which he established the Bahr Family Endowment, he also serves as a mentor to chemically dependent men and has volunteered for Habitat for Humanity. Richard Bahr is also a published author. Proceeds from his recent book, Amazed: Why the Humanity of Jesus Matters, go towards funding his social ministry. In October 2018, Bahr released his most recent book, Those People: The True Character the Homeless relating stories about his homeless friends while transforming the readers’ paradigms of homelessness.

Humility: The Shyest Virtue

In listening to Timothy Keller in a podcast of his sermons recently, he said, “Humility is the shyest of virtues. You can’t talk to it without it going away.”

His point is as piercing as it is true. The moment we become aware of our humility, we lose it. Scripture consistently presents humility not as self-deprecation but as God-centered self-forgetfulness. It is a way of living where our eyes are drawn upward toward God and outward toward others instead of inward toward ourselves.

“Humility not as self-deprecation but as God-centered self-forgetfulness“

“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3 ESV).

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus embodies this form of humility perfectly. He had every right to exalt Himself, yet He chose the posture of a servant (Mark 10:45). His life illustrates that humility is not thinking less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves less.

“Humility is not thinking less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves less“

Humility forms in the stillness of often unnoticed decisions. It looks like:

  • Truly listening before speaking
  • Allowing the successes of others to be celebrated without comparison
  • Apologizing first, even when you feel you are mostly right
  • Praying, “Lord, show me where my pride hides,” and then being willing to see what He reveals.

The presence of humility softens relationships, disarms conflict and creates space for God’s grace to work.

We can’t chase humility as an achievement, or it will elude us. Yet when we turn our eyes toward Christ, who “but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:7 ESV), humility begins to grow quietly and naturally, like fruit ripening on a branch.

We don’t need to grasp it, and we will never possess it perfectly in this life. We simply need to walk with the One who embodies it. And as we do, humility will shape us into people who reflect Jesus more beautifully.

If we do this, we’ll be the last ones to notice.