Humility and Pride

                                  

Many people, both believers and nonbelievers alike, consider humility to be an admirable virtue. It can be refreshing to encounter someone who has a down to earth personality despite having everything in the world going for them. For believers, humility isn’t just a nice personality perk. It’s something the Bible instructs us to practice.
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. - Ephesians 4:2
What does it really mean to be humble? What is humility?

Webster’s dictionary defines humility as the freedom from arrogance and pride. That definition is fine, but what does it look like in practice? Does it mean that we should ignore the good things about ourselves? Should we downplay our own greatness? Consider Lebron James. He’s one of the greatest players to ever touch a basketball. Some feel he is arrogant. They believe he should be humbler. Does that mean he should deny that he’s a great basketball player? No, that would be what we call false humility. The reality is that all of us have strengths and good characteristics about us. We are all capable of greatness in our own way. God doesn’t expect us to ignore that fact. It’s quite the opposite actually. 
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. - James 1:17
How can we give God glory for the gifts he's given us if we deny we have those gifts? So, the question remains. How does a believer demonstrate humility? 

Whether it’s intelligence, athleticism, charisma, or any other great quality or talent, you received it from God. Being humble means making sure that God always gets his due credit. No matter what you do or accomplish, glory should always go to God first and foremost. That’s not to say we play no part in the good we do. After all, God blesses everyone, but not everyone uses those blessings to their full extent. We all play a part in our own success whatever that may be, but where does God end, and we begin? None of us can say. All we know for sure is that we can’t do anything of importance without His help. Those who can acknowledge that and live in that truth will lead humble lives. Remember, humility means freedom from pride. There’s little room for pride if all glory and credit is given to God.

That thought raises a question. Is pride always a bad thing? Proverbs 16:18 tells us: Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Indulging in pride will lead a person to his or her downfall, but there is a difference between being a proud person and taking pride in something. The Bible tells us that we should avoid the former, but I’d submit that the latter can help us serve God better. Pride is a lot like alcohol. In moderation, it’s not so bad, but those who get drunk on it put themselves in peril. 

That said, taking pride in what we do makes a difference. We’ve all seen work done by people who didn’t care about what they were doing versus work done by people who took pride in their work. We shouldn’t just do the bare minimum when we serve God. We should do our best. We should take pride in our work for Him, and we can do that with a humble spirit. We can be proud of our service to God while also acknowledging that it is God that allows us to be of service in the first place.

Most consider boasting to be an act of pride. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul boasted about his sufferings for the Lord. Was he indulging in his pride? No.
Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, - 2 Corinthians 12:6
Paul was making the point that he, perhaps more than anyone, could be prideful about everything he had accomplished in service to the Lord. He took no pleasure in boasting about his greatness though. It was his weakness that he chose to boast about because his weakness was what allowed God to work most mightily through him. That’s the point. Any pride we have should come only in how much God can be glorified through us.

God should come first in everything we do. That’s the key. If we want to be humble, then we should simply give all credit to God. And to the extent we hold pride in anything, it should only be in how much God is glorified. In the end, everything we do should direct focus away from us and towards Him. If we keep that in mind, we can be successful in everything we do, and life in general will work out better for us.
For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. - Matthew 23:12
The Bible is clear. It’s better to be humble than to be humbled.

Chris Lawyer



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