Prideful
or Humble
No
one enjoys feeling weak, whether it is emotionally, spiritually or physically.
There is something within the human spirit that wants to resist the thought of
weakness. Many times this is nothing more than our human pride at
work. Just as weakness carries a great potential for strength, pride carries
an equally great potential for defeat.
Charles Stanley
I
believe firmly that the moment our hearts are emptied of pride and
selfishness and ambition and everything that is contrary to God's law, the Holy
Spirit will fill every corner of our hearts. But if we are full of pride and
conceit and ambition and the world, there is no room for the Spirit of God. We
must be emptied before we can be filled.
D.L. Moody
The
focus of health in the soul is humility, while the root of inward corruption is pride.
In the spiritual life, nothing stands still. If we are not constantly growing downward
into humility, we shall be steadily swelling up and running to seed under the
influence of pride. J.I. Packer
PRIDEFUL
- a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority,
whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc.
HUMBLE
- not proud or arrogant; modest
I
started thinking about pride and being humble.
The first thing I thought was Jesus never exhibited prideful behavior. He never made His purpose on earth to be all
about Himself. Jesus is our best example
of what it means to be humble. He always
referred to His Heavenly Father as to why He was on earth.
“Whoever
receives one of these little children in My name
receives Me; and whoever receives Me,
receives not Me but Him who sent Me.” Mark 9:37
I
must work the works of Him who sent Me while
it is day; the night is coming when no one can
work. John 9:4
Over
the past few years I have focused on prideful behavior in my life. One of the interesting things about pride is
it can sneak up on you without you ever knowing about it. Here are a few examples. You are at work and you make a mistake. You have two options. You can ignore the mistake, cover it up and
hope no one finds out. The other option
is to admit to the mistake or confess and accept the consequences. What is the first feeling that you get when
you make a mistake? It could be embarrassment,
fear or guilt. These feelings can lead
to pride. We don’t want someone else to
know we were wrong. We let pride stand
in the way of more relationships than any other sin.
Another
example is you speak harshly to someone.
Pride steps in and says, “I don’t have to apologize because they know
that is just the way I am”, or how about “I was just being honest.” If we use the excuse that we were just being
honest and we hurt another person, we have stepped into pride. If we can’t
lower ourselves to relieve another person’s hurt that we have caused, we are
allowing pride to interfere with the relationship.
The
only way I can destroy pride in my life is to examine my actions carefully and
most of the time is isn’t pretty. One of the things I figured out is that I
will never become more like Jesus if I don’t learn humility. Being humble means
you have to get lower than someone else.
Most of us don’t like humility because it is the height of
vulnerability. When we are vulnerable,
other people can attack and often do. If
you are prepared the humility can come easier.
How
do you prepare yourself to be humble?
The most important step is to realize Who you belong to. If we can ever wrap our arms around the fact
that God loves us and accept it as truth, we can take the first step toward
humbleness. When we realize God loves us, we no longer base our worth on what
someone in the world thinks about us.
When what the world thinks doesn’t matter anymore we are free to become
more humble because we understand that God is always there. Our friends, family and acquaintances may not
always be there but God will. That is
all we need to know.
Prayer for the Day: Heavenly
Father, I wish there was a day that I came to You and didn’t have to ask for
forgiveness for things I have done wrong.
There are times when pride stands in the way of my leading a humble life. It is a constant battle and I know I need
Your help because I just can’t do it on my own.
You are always there for me.
Remind me that being humble means being vulnerable. Remind me that You are supporting me when I
am at my most vulnerable.
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