humility and grace

Proverbs 29

 

My one-year Bible doesn't have an entry for February 29, so I just read Proverbs 29 this morning.  One topic that has been on my mind recently is pride/humility, and verse twenty three addresses this issue quite simply:

29:23 Pride ends in humiliation,

      while humility brings honor.

I think I have always struggled with pride, though as a young boy and teenager I was more or less naive to it.  Maybe when I was in high school and college I became more aware of my narcissism and egotism.  (It's ironic because the simple acknowledgement of pride in this blog is a stinger to my pride.)  But a little over two years ago, I had an Awakening where the Lord convicted me of some other egregious sin, and I decided at that point to follow whole heartedly after Christ.  Since that point He has slowly but surely convicted me of other "lesser" evils in my life to refine me more into His image.  Recently, I have felt stronger and stronger conviction about my thought life (some might call it daydreaming), not about sexual purity, but about pride.  I have realized that it is easy to relish compliments from others, or to imagine situations where I receive praise from an important person for a job well done.  Now, you might think, "There's nothing wrong with getting praise, where praise is due."  But verse five addresses that:

29:5 To flatter friends

      is to lay a trap for their feet.

Granted, flattery and appropriate praise are not the same, but the point is - it's dangerous!  And if it is dangerous in reality, then I assume it is especially dangerous in virtuality.  Moreover, Christ's perspective was quite different:

Phil. 2:3 Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

6 Though he was God,

      he did not think of equality with God

      as something to cling to.

7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;

      he took the humble position of a slave

      and was born as a human being.

      When he appeared in human form,

8 he humbled himself in obedience to God

      and died a criminal's death on a cross.

And on top of Christ's example, we have yet another imperative with an explanation:

James 4:6 But he gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say,

   "God opposes the proud

      but favors the humble."

7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Ah, so that's where the grace comes in.  The other thing I've realized is that there is no stinkin way that I can be humble on my own.  If I want to be humble like Christ, then I need Christ to give me His humility.  It is only by His Grace that I can come to Him in faith and be justified before a Holy God.  It is only by His Grace that I can come to Him in faith and ask Him to sanctify me wholly, with one aspect being humility.  It is only by His Grace that I can come to Him in faith and be used by Him to accomplish His will.

Eph. 2:8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank you for your grace that allows me to be part of your Kingdom.  Father, I pray that you will give me humility so that I can be close to you.  I don't want to be stiff-armed in the head; I want to be able to hug you, and I know that only happens when I'm humble.  Jesus, thank you for demonstrating humility by not clinging to the pleasure of residence in Heaven and becoming a servant in true human nature.  Jesus, I beg you to rid me of my pride and give me humility.  Holy Spirit, I pray that you will produce Fruit in my life, to the glory of the Father.  I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.