God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
James 4:6
My grandfather was perhaps the most humble man I knew when it came to business. He was a real estate broker in West Columbia for as long as I can remember and then retired from his company. He was generally a soft-spoken man with a heart that matched. I remember once that he told me that he would rather lose money on a real estate deal and keep a friend than take the money and lose the friendship. That’s the kind of guy he was. He also always told me that you catch more flies with honey. I never really understood that as a child. I just wondered why anyone would want flies.
Anyway, he was a humble man. Although humility is not the opposite of pride, but the absence of pride. I’m not like he was, but I wish I had the humility he exhibited every day with his clients and friends.
Pride Invites Opposition.
Anytime in Scripture where you see that God opposes something, it is good to stay away from that thing. In this case, it is pride. 1 Peter 5:5 tells us the same thing. We have an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, all-present, and all-creating God who reminds us that pride is something of considerable significance to Him. So much so that He greatly opposes those who are prideful. Do you want God to oppose you?
How does the prideful person look? The proud person attempts to steal attributes from God and use them for his good. Think about it. The proud person wants others to think they are always right and know EVERYTHING. We know people can’t always be correct, so that doesn’t make sense. So you’re now saying, “That can’t possibly be me. I never come across that way.” OKAY…NEVER?
The second way a person looks proud is when they operate from an all-powerful position of either physical strength or moral superiority. God is the only one who is all-powerful. There are always things we can do to engage with God and His plan, but it is His plan, and He gives us the physical strength to accomplish it.
The proud person may act this in front of others because he/she has very low self-worth. That’s a spiritual problem. Because when a person places their trust in what Jesus did on the cross, it is Jesus who gives them all the significance they will ever need.
Humility Invites Grace
There is a distinct choice given to us. We can walk around all prideful and puffed up while thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought, or we can walk around in humility and experience God’s specific grace in our lives. I choose humility. Grace over opposition is a no brainer.
Does that mean that I don’t struggle with pride? Not at all. Pride is one of those sins that quickly creeps in and chokes out our joy.
The way I look at humility is that it always deflects the honor for anything to someone else. It’s like the football player who breaks a 40-yard run to score a touchdown. The fans are going crazy, and he gets into the face of the camera and says, “I love you, mom!”
But, other athletes score and kneel and give thanks to God for the ability to do those things. I’m pretty sure if I broke a 40-yard run to score a touchdown, I would have a heart attack. It would definitely be something supernatural going on. I can hardly walk 40 yards.
Humility means that we deeply understand that God is an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, all-present, and all-creating God. When we realize this, it changes everything. We look at our world differently, and God gives us grace, which is that undeserving gift. Even the air we breathe is a grace-filled act of God. We need to thank Him for all the grace He provides to us each day.
Click the above link for more about pride!