Submitting ourselves to God means choosing to be humble instead of proud. But when He deems the time right, we will rise to a station far higher than any we could reach on our own…
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (1 Peter 5:6)
I’ve never really thought about pride as a bad word. Whenever I heard it, it actually sounded pretty positive.
“I’m so proud of you!” “Have pride in your achievements.” “Aren’t you proud of how well your child is doing?”
In these everyday contexts, feeling proud is something you want because it means you’ve done something right. But as much as we want others to be proud of us, we can easily lose sight of the dark side of pride.
Conceit. Self-aggrandizing. Inability to be humble. And that means we’ve lost sight of the One who has blessed us.
For every accomplishment, we need to remember that it’s not ours alone. We are the instrument, but God is the one who keeps it in tune. Our beautiful music is conducted by Him.
Staying humble in a proud world
It’s not easy being humble in a world that tells you to toot your own horn. Interviews require us to talk ourselves up to get the job. Social media encourages us to share our wins. But no one is tripping over themselves to congratulate the humble one.
Being humble is often mistaken for being meek, shy, or socially awkward. If you don’t like the spotlight, then we’re all feeling uncomfortable. Better to focus over there on that person who’s got lots to say about the things they’re doing…
But God calls us to be humble because when we are, we place the glory where it belongs. Our skills, ideas, and good luck are all gifts from Him. And it’s important to remember that, especially when others’ nice words are drawing us in the other direction.
Humbling ourselves in this life may be hard. Submission to God’s will and rejection of earthly pride are pretty counter-cultural, despite the many #blessed hashtags tossed around.
But seating ourselves low sets the stage for God to lift us up. And He will raise us to a place much better than any we’d reach ourselves. That may be in this life, or it may not. But it will surely be in the next, when we are handed our inheritance as His children.
I hope today you have a chance to look over at the places in your heart where pride has a hold. And I’ll do the same. Let’s let it go knowing that God sees us, He knows us, and He will lift us up to exactly where we were meant to be.
Have a blessed Monday!
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Love this. My husband and I do our best to follow Luke 14:11 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” It helps us at work to come with a servant’s attitude and be humble.
That’s wonderful! Human nature pushes us toward pride rather than humility, so it’s important to ground ourselves in the Word on our path to righteousness.