Abraham Lincoln but not the movie

Have you ever been insulted? Painful isn’t it? Especially when the insult comes from people you love, or people who may be below you in position or stature.

Listen to insults people make:

1. “Artificial intelligence is no match for your natural stupidity.” Wow. That stings!

2. Famous comedian of old Groucho Marx once said, “I never forget a face, but in your case, I’ll be glad to make an exception.” Hmmm… That hurts.       .

3. One pretty girl told her suitor, “Sorry, I don’t date outside my species.” Now that’s really painful.

4. Comedian Rodney Dangerfield has a knack for insulting himself. He said, “My psychiatrist told me I was crazy, and I said I want a second opinion. He said, okay, you’re ugly too.” Very self-effacing.

So how do you deal with insults? Let me tell you a story.

A political enemy once accused Abraham Lincoln of being two-faced. Abe laughed and said, “Now, do you think that if I had another face I’d be wearing this one?” Lincoln, who rose from a Kentucky log cabin to the White House, showed the world what humility really means. In spite of his great power as president, he never lost touch with the people he grew up with, or claimed to be something he wasn’t. He never tried to impress people.

Insults attack the personal pride of people. Proud people will do everything within their means to defend their pride. But humble people know how to deal with insults. They counter insults by humbly and quietly holding on to their personal dignity.

Look at Lincoln’s humility in action in story from Climbing Jacob’s Ladder by Jeanne Larson and Ruth McLin:

One of Lincoln’s last acts before he left Springfield, Illinois, to go as president to Washington, DC, was to visit his old law office and say goodbye to his partner, William Herndon. After they finished discussing business, he lay down on the office sofa and stared at the ceiling.

“Billy,” he asked, “How long have we been together?”

“More than 16 years.”

“We’ve never had a cross word, have we?”

They talked about the many funny things that had happened through the years, and then, as Abe picked up his books to leave, he pointed to the signboard swinging on its rusty hinges at the foot of the stairway.

“Let it hang there,” he said. “I want the people to know that the election of a president makes no change in the firm of Lincoln and Herndon. If I live. I’m coming back some time, and we’ll go right on practicing law as if nothing had happened.”

Lincoln never allowed his position to get into his head. But many people I know do.

Larson and McLin wrote:

“Most politicians from the East thought of Lincoln as an ignorant frontier lawyer. They were sure he could never handle the problems of a president. They knew he could never fit in with the educated, polished people of Washington.

“Abe never argued about that. He didn’t change his homely way of speaking. He kept right on telling his funny stories and didn’t worry about whether people admired him or not. ‘My course,’ he said, ‘Is as plain as a turnpike road. It is marked out by the Constitution. I am in no doubt which way to go.’

“Although many people didn’t like having this long, lean rail-splitter for president, they couldn’t help but see honesty and a natural dignity in his face. He never tried to pretend to be what he wasn’t and he never forgot the humble background from which the Lord had brought him.”

Abraham Lincoln exhibited godly humility. This is what leadership is all about. If only every business executive or government official led like Lincoln did, wouldn’t you agree with me that our country would be a better place to live in?

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