OF A LOW ESTIMATION OF SELF IN THE SIGHT OF GOD
“I will speak unto my Lord who I am but dust and ashes. If I count myself more, behold, You stand against me, and my iniquities bear true testimony, and I cannot gainsay it. But if I abase myself, and bring myself to nought, and shrink from all self-esteem, and grind myself to dust, which I am, Your grace will be favourable unto me, and Your light will be near unto my heart; and all self-esteem, how little soever it be, shall be swallowed up in the depths of my nothingness, and shall perish forever. There, You show to me myself, what I am, what I was, and whither I have come; so foolish was I and ignorant (Psalm 73:22).
If I am left to myself, behold I am nothing, I am all weakness; but if suddenly You look upon me, immediately I am made strong, and filled with new joy. And it is great marvel that I am so suddenly lifted up, and so graciously embraced by You, since I am always being carried to the deep, by my own weight.
This is the doing of Your love which freely goes before me and succours me in so many necessities, which guards me also in great dangers and snatches me, as I may truly say, from innumerable evils. For verily, by loving myself amiss, I lost myself, and by seeking and sincerely loving You alone, I found both myself and You, and through love I have brought myself to yet deeper nothingness; because You, O most sweet Lord, deals with me beyond all merit, and above all, which I dare ask or think.
Blessed be You, O my God, because though I be unworthy of all Your benefits, Your bountiful and infinite goodness never ceases to do good, even to ingrates and to those who are turned far from You. Turn You us unto Yourself, that we may be grateful, humble, and godly, for You are our salvation, our courage, and our strength.”
Thomas a Kempis
The Mark Of God: Understanding Your "I AM Presence" 