Humbling ourselves before the Lord
Most of us can spot a proud person when we see one. It’s evident in the way they boast about themselves, how they talk down to others and their insistence that they always know best. It’s the way that they carry themselves with this air of arrogance that causes us to be turned off by almost anything they do or say. Pride is certainly an ugly character trait and God too is repulsed by a prideful spirit, finding it disgusting, hateful and offensive to His humble nature and His rightful position as Lord over all. While we can easily spot pride in another person, we often have a harder time spotting it in ourselves. That’s why the Bible warns us to guard ourselves against the tendency to think of ourselves more highly than we should by regularly and honestly examining ourselves for areas where we may have become blinded to our own pride.
“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”
James 4:10
Humility is an attribute of God while pride, its counterpart, is an attribute of Satan. Jesus chose to lay down His glory and humbly serve the humanity He created to reveal Himself to us and to redeem us. Being obedient to the Father even onto death, Jesus who humbled Himself is now exalted, seated at the right hand of the Father and forever glorified. Lucifer, on the other hand, was Heaven's anointed angel of worship—the very image of beauty and wisdom. But pride consumed him and turned him into an ugly fool. Somewhere in the midst of leading Heaven's worship onto God, he took the glory for himself and demanded that he be exalted above God. From his longing to be lifted high, he was casted low, kicked out of Heaven and eternally condemned to the pit of Hell. This is how the original sin of pride was committed and why all of us are born with a sinful desire to think highly of ourselves instead of serving God in humble obedience.
God hates the proud and loves the humble. He simply will not work with someone who has a prideful attitude because they will not follow His guidance or correction. God’s grace is extended to those who have a reverence for Him and submit to His instruction and wisdom. While humility does not come to us easily, it is through a humble and pliable heart that God is able to use us to accomplish extraordinary things for His glory. He will raise up His humble servants before men and honour them with wealth, life and wisdom and He will tear down the self-made kingdoms of the prideful. Just as Lucifer’s pride came before his downfall, when we adopt Jesus’ humility, we too will be honoured by the Father. But even as we are being honoured, we must never make ourselves the object of our own worship or others’ worship. We are to always remember that we are under God’s glory and must give onto Him who is worthy of all glory and honour and praise.
How we handle the circumstances in our lives is very telling to the condition of our heart. Pride can slip in in the subtlest of ways—a need to win an argument, a refusal to apologize first, a desire to receive recognition in the sight of others or an insatiable appetite to be the top dog. If we choose not to humble ourselves, God most certainly will. Today, honestly examine yourself and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you where pride may be lingering in your heart. Ask Him to humble you and teach you how to obediently serve Him without ulterior motives, selfish ambitions or vain conceit but to humbly and graciously do good onto others. When we willingly learn and walk in obedience to the Lord, He will lift us up and reward our obedience by using us for His good and perfect plans.
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