When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom. (Proverbs 11:2, ESV)
When I was about 12 years old, I shot a personal best 76 during a tournament and ended up winning. I remember my peers asking me what my best score was, and I proudly would answer 76. Never mind that it was a par-60.
I wanted others to think highly of me and my golfing abilities. Surely omitting some of the facts was fine, even if it was misleading; it made me look better. What is so easy to see in others, while all along we are blind or defensive to it in ourselves? This ugliness is a proud heart.
Those who live humbly will be exalted. We can praise God that we have the perfect example of this humility in Christ.Appearances can be deceptive. It can look like the prideful get ahead in this life—those who have the most followers on social media or the high paying job. It even works in reverse: We can take pride that we are not the most popular or wealthiest person; rather, we let everyone know how generous we are and how frequently we volunteer. Pride is a posture of the heart that says look at me, the good I am doing or how good I am. The proud operate out of an independence that scoffs at the notion of needing or obeying a Savior, because they know best.
Bad news. It may appear to be a soft sin, but God’s Word delivers anything but a soft response to pride. Scripture leaves no question about how God views it. In Proverbs 16:5, we read that those arrogant in heart are an abomination to the Lord. In Psalm 10:4, the psalmist observed that in his pride the wicked man does not seek God, for all his thoughts are, “There is no God.” To cap it off, Peter wrote flatly that God opposes the proud. I cannot think of less desirable place to be than in opposition to the omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient God of the universe.
Good news. God is not impressed by one’s golf scores, wealth, looks, job, accomplishments, relationships or status. No, what is beautiful to God is mentioned in Psalm 51: a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. A humble heart is filled with an awe of and dependency on God. A humble heart looks up while a proud heart looks down. Those who live humbly will be exalted. We can praise God that we have the perfect example of this humility in Christ.
Jesus emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men… he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (see Philippians 2). Jesus took off his heavenly garments so that we could put them on. Had he not humbled himself and come down to earth to live the perfect life and pay the punishment for sin in our place, we would never have been made right with God.
Praise God that he shows us the powerful posture of humility and the foolishness of the proud. May we learn and heed God’s Word and not experience the effects of a proud heart.
—
Aimee Neff
August 23, 2018
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The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.