It's sound advice that we should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought. On the other hand the pendulum can easily swing to the other extreme when we think too lowly of ourselves. To find that delicate balance between haughtiness and humiliation is true humility.
A case in point: when the people of God first entered the Promised Land to possess their possessions, their task seemed daunting. The walls were high and the cities well fortified. They seemed like impregnable fortresses whose inhabitants were gigantic. In stark contrast they saw themselves as grasshoppers. "To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them" (Numbers 13:33, New Revised Standard Version). In reality these "giants" were cowering behind their walls having heard of the miracles God did in liberating his people from their bondage in Egypt. They were fearful that what had happened to the Egyptians would happen to them.
The people of God couldn't see their position of strength because they were demoralized by the negativism of a grasshopper mentality.
After they got a few victories under their belts, their problems didn't look so formidable and they began to have a more healthy respect for their own resources. I think something similar will happen to us, after we get some experience traveling the world. Something of the can do attitude of Caleb will deliver us from grasshopperitis. "Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it" (Numbers 13:30). Now that's the spirit we need.
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