I believe the verses in the New Testament that tell us that God resists the proud, but gives grace to those who are humble. I understand why God hates pride, because I am not fond of people who are arrogant and proud. I prefer a humble and meek person over a proud and arrogant one. Today I read, “LORD, Thou hast heard the desire of the humble: Thou wilt prepare their heart, Thou wilt cause Thine ear to hear” (Psalm 10:17). It reminded me once again that I ought to desire genuine humility if I expect God’s ear to be listening to me.
I want you to know that I am no different than any of you reading this today. I love to hear people praise the things that I have done. I will even try to “help” people praise me. I love to hear people tell me how much I mean to them, and how much I have helped them, and how great I am … I think you get the picture. But, before you condemn me for admitting all that, realize that it is in the heart of each of us to desire those things. How do I know that?
If you look at the original fall … not of Adam and Eve … the fall of Lucifer from the position of one of the three arc angels. His fall came when he voiced his desire to be equal with God. He even went so far as to say that his desire was to be above God! When Adam and Eve followed and placed their desires above the desires of God for them, they too demonstrated a pride that led to the sinful nature that we all possess today. Pride has been, and continues to be one of the major enemies of living godly today.
God’s Word clearly says that God hears the cries of the humble. That God gives grace to those who are humble, and resists those who are not. We have witnesses countless examples of God removing the proud as leaders throughout the Bible, and exalting humble ones to replace them. If you look at the people Jesus chose to be His disciples, I think you will recognize a general quality of humility (with a few exceptions) in these men. Of course, we do see moments that even those men had of allowing pride to get the best of them.
Today I want to be a man that is characterized by real humility. I have asked God to keep me humble in the past and then complained when people did not recognize my accomplishments! Regardless of that, it is my goal today to live a humble life that draws attention to our Savior, and not to me. Let me encourage you to do the same today. If we would humble ourselves, I believe it will exalt our Savior.