When we hear conversations about someone being proud, we must be careful about how we process what we hear. The world may consider pride a good thing, but God sees it differently. To be proud is to trust in our own plans, abilities, and achievements instead of in God. Pride can disguise itself as arrogance, or as timidity and shyness; regardless of how it shows up, it derails God’s blessings and blocks His grace as surely as rubber blocks electricity.

We move away from pride and self-centeredness when we deliberately take ourselves out of the center of every situation and put God there, instead. God wants to honor us, but He can’t when we’re focused on how great we are, instead of how great He is. When pride comes, disgrace does too. A man’s pride brings him low, but honor upholds the humble in spirit.   

Humility isn’t being a submissive doormat or overly modest, but trusting in God and agreeing with His Word; however, we must first know what His Word says before we can agree with it. Studying the Bible and meditating on it helps us do that. Moses was a great example of humility; he was more humble than anyone on earth. He made his share of mistakes, but he received blessings because he trusted in and relied on God.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus perfectly modeled humility through His service to others. He came not to be ministered to, but to minister to others to the point of giving up His own life. When we set aside our own selfish interests and put others first, we gain much more than what we lose; God resists the proud, but gives more grace to the humble. 

We live in a world that places a high priority on pride, but the world is backward. Placing our faith in Jesus helps us resist the dangers the pride of life poses, and helps us maintain Christlike humility. This is God’s will for our lives.

Prayer:

Lord, it’s tempting to sink into the world’s mindsets; however, as Your children, we’re called to be in the world without being influenced by it. Thank You for teaching us what it means to be humble, and for rescuing us from wrong-thinking. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Scriptures:

Proverbs 11:2, NIV

Proverbs 29:23

Numbers 12:3, NKJV

Matthew 20:28

Mark 10:45

James 4:6

1 John 2:16

For more on how a humble attitude allows God to bless us, click on the link to find the three-message series, Humility 101: The Gateway to God’s Success, in our eStore.