“Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.” –Proverbs 22:4 (NIV)
Pride is built into every one of us. As a result of the privileges we obtain or the abilities we already possess, we often think of ourselves as being superior to everyone around us. Even adopting “self-enlightened” or “holier-than-thou” attitudes is a form of pride in that it invariably places oneself as superior over those whom they have deemed as inferior. We love to boast because it satisfies our selfish and sinful nature that wants to be at the center of everyone’s attention and thoughts; a role that should be only designated to God Himself. People often lord their wealth and status over those that do not share the luxuries to the point of oppression. Thus they often see themselves as monarchs of the world; having the power of life and death over those they can control and manipulate. However, the prideful always fall for the very reason that the fuel of their attitudes is transient. Money, fame, and power are always fluid and can be lost as quickly and easily as it was gained.
Christians are not exempt from pride and sadly they succumb to it far too often. They often feel that their own piety and righteousness makes them, in their eyes at least, perfect compared to the rest of the world. But are we really? If we are honest with ourselves, even Christians in a living relationship with Christ often stumble and fall far too many times to even count. Thankfully our salvation is not based on the performance of the believer, for if that were true who could stand? Furthermore, what would be the need for God sending down His Son to die for all the sins of humanity if humanity already had the ability to save himself? The truth is humanity cannot save himself and any good that the believer does is done because of the redemptive work of God in his life, not of his own inherent, yet non-existent, righteousness. Paul wrote that he should boast only of the work of Christ in his life. May that also be the boast of our lives as well.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
