Eliezer the faithful servant's self-effacing bittul

אא"ז מו"ר זצלה"ה הגיד דברי זוהר הקדוש שאליעזר הי' עבד אמת במ"ש עבד אברהם אנכי ע"ש בפרשת וירא [בפסוק והנה בן לשרה ע"ש] שהיה אצלו ליחוס מה שהוא עבד אברהם.

My grandfather, my master and teacher (of blessed memory), related the words of the holy Zohar that Eliezer was a faithful servant, as it says "I am the servant of Avraham" — see there in Parshas Vayeira [on the verse "and behold, a son for Sarah"; see there] — that being the servant of Avraham was, for him, a mark of distinguished lineage.

Eliezer regarded his status as Avraham's servant not as something lowly but as his proudest pedigree; the Zohar holds him up as the model of a faithful servant.

וי"ל עוד כי בודאי הכירו בו שהוא צדיק שהרי אמר לו בוא ברוך ה' כו' ורצה שלא יסברו שמעצמותו כן רק שע"י אברהם זכה לבוא מבחי' ארור לברוך.

And one may further say that they surely recognized him as a tzaddik, for Lavan said to him, "Come, O blessed of Hashem, etc." (Bereishis 24:31) — and he wished that they should not think this was from his own self, but rather that through Avraham he merited to pass from the category of "cursed" to "blessed."

When Lavan greeted Eliezer as "blessed of Hashem," Eliezer was careful that no one credit his righteousness to himself; whatever he had attained came entirely by his bittul to Avraham, lifting him from the cursed line of Canaan to a blessed one.

[ובזה יש לפרש מ"ש במדרש מילתי' מגניא אקדים ואמר שזה הגנאי מה שאין לו מעצמו כנ"ל ע"ש]:

[And with this one may explain what the Midrash says, "his words are self-deprecating, he prefaced and said" — that this "disgrace" is precisely that he has nothing of his own, as above; see there.]

The Midrash notes that Eliezer "spoke in a way that diminished himself" by introducing himself first as Avraham's servant. The Sefas Emes explains that this very self-effacement — declaring that he possesses nothing of his own — was his true greatness: complete bittul to his master.

Summary: The Sefas Emes, citing the Zohar and his grandfather, presents Eliezer as the model of the faithful servant. Eliezer took pride in being "the servant of Avraham" and was careful that his righteousness be credited not to himself but to Avraham, through whom he rose from "cursed" to "blessed." His self-effacing introduction was, in truth, his greatness — the bittul of one who knows he has nothing of his own.