May 31, 2017

Pride Humbled

Written by Boyd Bailey

Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – May 31, 2017

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything He does is right and all His ways are just. And those who walk in pride He is able to humble.  Daniel 4:37

Pride will eventually give way to humility. It may not happen overnight. It may have to follow a painful process because pride can be very, very stubborn. Like an embedded splinter deep in the flesh of your foot, it is hard to remove. You cannot remove it alone, and there is constant throbbing and pain until it is extracted.

This is the plight of pride. Pain and suffering are its cohorts. Pride provides a false sense of security. Spiritually minded people know it is only a matter of time until a fall, as pride will catch up with you. Humility was once a staple in your spiritual diet, but success has squelched your humility and subtly replaced it with pride. Authority without accountability generates pride.

The more authority you possess, the more you are required to submit to accountability. Otherwise, you cannot handle this freewheeling power. Your behavior defaults to pride without the checkmate of humility. This is true in relationships, business, ministry, and churches. Beware of obsessing over control.

Paranoia is an application of pride. You are fearful of losing control. It is better to hand over control than to lose control. Humility gives control, while pride grasps for it. So be open and humble about your insecurities. We are all insecure to some degree. Humility builds security, and pride tears it down. The humble have nothing to hide. So root out pride, replacing it with humility.

The process of pride’s removal begins with submission to Christ. It is acknowledging His lordship and ownership over your life. He is in control. He is large and in charge. Nothing in your life has sneaked up on God. He can be trusted. He holds your life, family, health, and career in His hand. You start by humbly bowing to God with your head and heart. He is to be feared and loved.

You have the awesome opportunity to worship and adore Him. When you walk with God, you walk in humility. Pride cannot coexist in a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Pride is extinguished in the presence of Jesus. Pride is like a roach lurking in the dark recesses of your heart. The Holy Spirit’s light reveals pride and convicts you during times of prayer and Scripture meditation.

The second offense to pride is praying people. Ask people to pray for humility to infiltrate and occupy your life. You want the occupation of humility on the soil of your heart and mind. Be transparent with others about your sins and shortcomings. Talk about them with the motive for change.

Humble yourself, and trust God to humble others. It is easy to recognize pride in others while it is still looming in your spirit. Run from spiritual pride. It is the worst kind. It is insidious. It is self-righteousness in nature, and it chokes the Holy Spirit. Humility grows in an environment of honesty, openness, prayer, and change. Be a change agent on behalf of the humble. Humble pride!

“All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time” (1 Peter 5:5–6).

 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, help me walk in humility of heart and mind.

Application

How does pride keep me from trusting God and having to be in control?

Related Reading

Exodus 10:3; 2 Kings 22:19; Romans 12:3; Philippians 2:1–11

Post/Tweet today

It’s easy to recognize pride in others while it still looms in our heart. #WisdomHunters #pridehumbled

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Comments

  1. Great post. Thank you. So glad you touched on spiritual pride. I truly believe in a life season such as this where the angry false narrative is loud and long, the we can become so “compassioned fatigued” and when we give into this fatigue, pride rises up to take its place and like you said, it shows up in a self-righteous attitude. So the angry false narrative reacted to by the self-righteous attitude just feeds into the incivility of our nation. We have to change it up, it begins with us. I truly believe being forced to be “left” or “right” as we react to the narrative of our nation is not the solution. We need to change it up, humble ourselves and be the cross which is both horizontal and vertical.

  2. Gwynne says:

    Dear Kimberly,
    It is so good to hear from you! We always appreciate your discerning comments about the devotionals. Once again, it seems humility comes into to play as a solution and certainly, the way to model our Christ. Your statements “So the angry false narrative reacted to by the self-righteous attitude just feeds into the incivility of our nation. We have to change it up, it begins with us” speaks to our call to action. It does begin with us!
    Boyd points to this in his devotional when he spoke about importance of humility in not only authority, but also relationships, business and ministry.
    “Your behavior defaults to pride without the checkmate of humility.”
    “Humility gives control, while pride grasps for it.” Humility builds security and pride tears it down.”
    Then, you, Kimberly, bring it all home with your comment, “We need to change it up, humble ourselves and be the cross which is both horizontal and vertical”.
    Humility.
    Thank you, Kimberly. We are grateful for you and your insight and look forward to hearing from you again.
    Blessings to you and yours,
    Gwynne
    “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
    Matt 11:29
    “He must become greater; I must become less.”
    John 3: 30


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