The desert fathers and mothers...
The desert fathers and mothers of the early church had a vital understanding of the role of humility so central to this passage. They understood the human soul to be formed of three essential parts: the appetitive will (that which wishes to embrace), the irascible will (that which wishes to reject), and the reason. The role of the disciplined life was to so moderate the first two that the reason was freed for its purpose of beholding and contemplating God. The process in one's devotional life of cultivating this freedom involved a focused attempt to overcome one's sin and embrace virtue.