Are
You Proud?
“Humble yourselves before
the Lord, and he will exalt you” (James 4:10).
Prayer
God, thank you for another morning with your Word. I ask
that you open my heart to your Word this morning. Help me to understand what it
truly means to be humble. Show me how I can humble myself before you in every
situation. In your name I pray – Amen!
Reflections
I was reading an article about humility, and this guy
delivered a point that describes me completely. You would think that he knows
me personally. He states, “When trials come, will we bow up with pride, or bow
down in humility” (David Mathis, 2020).
This really made me think about my life and how I react to
situations. I am a very prideful person and that is not a good thing at all.
The world may tell us it is, but it is not. “God opposes the proud but gives
grace to the humble” (Proverbs 3:34). I cannot trust God in one area of my life
and not the rest. I cannot give up alcohol, porn, cussing, and yet continue
lying etc. I get it but why do I continue to do it? I am trying so ridiculously
hard to receive God’s grace in this area. I cannot submit to God on my right hand
and give in to Satan with my left. That is why I continue to struggle. It seems
my left hand takes control more often than my right!
This is challenging for me because I like to be the center
of attention. I am narcissistic like that. It must be all about me – in every
situation. Even the wrong ones. But if I continue this way, it can never be
about Him. I cannot handle stressful situations very well, so I do not
understand why I even try to. That makes even more sense for me to humbly trust
God in my life.
That is easier said than done for me though. Especially when
I am caught in the middle of any situation that life throws at me. God is
giving me the opportunities to humble myself before Him. I just hope that I do
not miss them because I am so self-centered and swollen up with pride!
I am encouraged because God tells me that His grace is
sufficient for me. His grace is better than my anger and better than any self-help
technique that I would try. He has shown me that His Word proves true over my
life. And that alone is encouraging to me to push forward and be humble in
every situation.
“We do not teach ourselves to be humble. There is no
five-step plan for becoming humbler in the next week or month. But the main
test and opportunity comes when we are confronted and unsettled, in the moments
when our control vanish and we are taken off guard by life in a fallen world –
and the question comes” (David Mathis, 2020). So, are we going to humble
ourselves before God, or are we going to continue to be proud and prideful
missing the opportunity?
Application
1. I
am going to continue to get in the Word every day, pray every day (and in every
situation, hopefully), and continue to fast for God. These are the things that
are going to help me be humble in every area of my life! I can feel my right
hand getting a little stronger : )
Prayer
Jesus, thank you so much for what you do for me. Thank you
for being there for me when I need you the most. I am sorry that I try to take
matters into my own hands after I have promised to trust in you. This is
probably my main challenge with trying to apply these principles to my everyday
life. I am confident that you will help me more and more if my heart sincerely
desires to follow you.
In
Jesus Name I Pray
Chris
Stringer May 30th, 2020
Reference
David Mathis: “How Do
I Humble Myself?” https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-do-i-humble-myself
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