To
live in pride is to live independently from God, "going it alone" without
God's help and ignoring His commands. The sentiment of the highly cited popular
song, “I Did It My Way,” captures this thought well.
In
Isaiah 5:21, we read: "Woe to
those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight." Also in I Peter, "God opposes the proud but gives grace
to the humble,” (5:6). The proud person rebels against correction, and
says, “I do not need God’s help.”
"He who ignores discipline
despises himself, but whoever heeds correction, gains understanding. The fear
of the Lord teaches a man wisdom, and humility before honor." (Prov.
15:42)
The "Evil
One's" most used ploy is to convince us that we don’t need God. If he
can't succeed at that, he will try to convince us that the spiritual
disciplines, the ways God uses to reveal Himself to us, aren't important. He will do anything to get us to go on
our own and "become like the gods."
This
lack of humility was also seen in the life of the children of Israel. God made
them an offer.
"If my people, who are called
by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from
their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and
will heal their land." (II Chron. 7:14)
In
this passage, pride is connected to "wicked ways," and humility is
connected to seeking God's face, praying and turning from our wicked ways.
God's promise is, then, to hear their prayer, forgive their sins and heal their
land.
God
proved His faithfulness to keep His promise in II Chronicles 32:26 where we
read, "Then Hezekiah repented of the
pride of his heart, as did the people of Jerusalem; therefore the Lord's wrath
did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah."
Humility
In
the New Testament the call to humility is just as prominent theme. It is
brought into connection with submission to God and those in authority over us.
"Young
men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. Clothe yourselves
with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but
gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's
mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." (I
Pet. 5:5-6)
We
tend to consider meekness and humility as being weaknesses. They are, in fact,
full obedience. Christ was totally obedient to his Father, and He wanted His
disciples to do the same. He spoke in Matthew's gospel about His humility.
"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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
(Matt. 11:29)
A yoke is, among
other things, a symbol of submission. Jesus spoke openly to His disciples about
His submission to His Father.
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very
truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he
sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.20 For
the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. (John 5:19-20)
10 Don’t you
believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say
to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in
me, who is doing his work. (John
14:10)
He is the only
one who can claim absolute humility, the only one who can never be accused of
pride. Jesus testifies that only by His complete obedience and dependence on
what the Father said made it possible for the Father to do His work through Him.
Jesus was the embodiment of humility. It was the source of His power.
The entire New
Testament underscores Jesus’ desire for us to become like Him. In order to do
that, He is calling us to develop that same complete dependence on the Father’s
presence and direction in our lives.
Might the
Church’s lack of power be the influence of our culture’s teaching that we depend
on our own individual strength, rather than upon God?
What do you
think?
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