Humility

I am going to start this out with some scripture, please read Proverbs 16:16-21,  

“How much better to get wisdom than gold!

And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;

He who keeps his way preserves his soul.

Pride goes before destruction,

And a haughty spirit before a fall.

Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly,

Than to divide the spoil with the proud.

He who heeds the word wisely will find good,

And whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he.

The wise in heart will be called prudent,

And sweetness of the lips increases learning.”

Being humble may be one of the biggest struggles many believers have.  If you have come from a background of being belittled or made to feel like you were nothing and you will never be anything or amount to anything, where you had very little encouragement but heard more negative things about yourself than positive things, then one day you find yourself in a position of importance where people are looking up to you because they need you, it can be easy to get proud and start throwing your weight around, so to speak, and get very boastful and arrogant.  This may be in a worldly or church position; pride can easily slip in unnoticed by you.  

Or maybe you’re the kind of person that tries to be what you think everyone else wants you to be, trying to please everyone else, getting your eyes off the Lord and on other people which can cause you to be a boastful type of person.  It is hard to be humble in these situations but many of us have fallen into these sins and not ever realized it.  Please don’t get me wrong, I am not condoning this or giving anyone an excuse for this kind of behavior, no, we need to take responsibility for our actions and call sin a sin and deal with it and not look for any excuses for it.  What I would suggest is to repent of these sins and ask the Lord to forgive us and try to make things right with the people we have hurt because of our attitudes and get our eyes back on the Lord and let Him be our example.

Read Philippians 2:5-11, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

I heard something like this before, that pride stinks and the only one that doesn’t smell it is the one that has it.  If you think you might have this problem but you are not sure, ask someone close to you.  If you are married ask your spouse they know more about you than anyone else or ask your pastor or a counselor.  Be serious, sit down and talk to someone that will be honest with you.  If you brag, or are given to boasting, find out and deal with it.  Ask the Lord to help you overcome these things.  Boasting is to puff yourself up in what you say.  

I have been guilty of all these things for a long time and I thank God He has shown these things to me so that I could repent and confess them to the Lord.  It is far better to know these things now and deal with these sins than wait until it may be too late to deal with them.  God has a way of humbling us and we should thank Him for what He does.  Remember all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  

Something to think about!  I hope this has been a help for anyone who finds themselves in these situations.  Have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!  PS don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord!!