This past Sunday and Monday, my church orchestra did its annual Christmas program – we did it twice on Sunday evening and then again on Monday night. And this was after rehearsals for three nights last week. My part in the orchestra is to play the synthesizer. This is a keyboard instrument that can make all kinds of different instrumental sounds. As a musician, I learned a long time ago that it is easy to let pride creep into my attitude. I have to make sure that I always pray for all the glory to go to God for any music that I play. I play first of all because I feel that God has gifted me with this talent so that I can give praise, honor and glory back to Him. Each Sunday at the other church where I play the piano, people always give me compliments and wonderful encouragement. I am so thankful for that and it is something that I really need because it helps me keep going. But I have to be careful to find that balance of not becoming prideful while still being grateful and respectful toward those who give me compliments.
Pride is something I believe everyone has trouble with to some degree. For Christians, we realize that too much pride or having a haughty attitude is sin. The dictionary says this kind of pride means “thinking too well of oneself; haughty, arrogant.” The Bible says that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. That thought alone should be enough to make us want to stay away from the sin of pride. But there are also other negative consequences of pride mentioned in the Bible including being disgraced, quarrels, punishment from God, destruction and downfall. When I feel the pride creeping into my attitude, I have to remember that God opposes the proud. I don’t want God to oppose me.
The opposite of pride is humility. The definition of humility or humble is: “modest, without wrongful pride in oneself or one’s accomplishments; patient and mild disposition.” God gives grace to the humble – isn’t that much more desirable than being opposed by God? Being humble doesn’t come naturally – it takes a lot of work and a lot of dependence on God. But it is definitely something to start working toward! I am listing some verses below that are about this subject – to read them, all you have to do is click on it and it will take you to the verse.
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18
James 4:6
1 Peter 5:5
Proverbs 13:10
Proverbs 15:33
Proverbs 16:5
Proverbs 16:18
Proverbs 18:12
Proverbs 29:23
Thankful Thursday
1 day ago
11 comments:
Admitting that you struggle with pride is in and of itself an act of humility Kathy and it's beautiful.
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I agree about everyone having a struggle with pride.
I have also said at times that there are those who give me the impression that arrogance is a spiritual gift.
God isn't as concerned about what we have or what we know, just how we use it.
Just use what you have for the glory of the Lord.
Oh, and I really enjoyed your post.
BEAUTIFUL post, Kathy! However, I want to add something: fake humility is something that is nurtured in Indo and that's also just as bad he he he...I'll go read the verses later. Still have to visit other people's blogs first he he...
Hi Kathy,
I also have to add that humility does not mean that you have to be a doormat.
Great post,Kathy.I have to admit that I suffer from "Indian pride"sometimes !!!
I struggle with this all the time. And as Amel mentioned, I also sometimes question whether my humility is real or false. I can find myself being proud of how humble I am!
Kat,
I think we have all been guilty of being prideful. When I do ,I just tell myself " hey,fathead cool it" cause sometimes I can really get a fathead. HE HE
I also want to say that I liked the link to the bible verses. I marked the site as a favorite so I can go back to it. I am still amazed by all the places I can go on the computer. I never even knew there was such a site.
Pilgrim, thank you....and thanks for visiting my blog. I hope to get better acquainted with yours in the coming days.
Juliana, Yes that is an easy one. Thanks.
74wixygrad, you make some very good points! Thanks!
Amel, you are right about the false humility. I think it's just another form of pride.
Frasypoo, that's true, we should never be doormats. Hmmm, I may need to learn more about this Indian pride.
Kay, I know what you mean. It seems like such a balancing act. I believe we have to get to a point in our lives where we rely so completely on God's strength instead of our own, that it results in the Bibles kind of humility. It's not something we are able to attain on our own.
Hey Sindi, yes, that site is great. I use it all the time to find the verses that I want to add at the end of my posts. Like I might know some of the words in the verse but I can't remember where it is in the Bible, so I type in what I know and it finds it for me. Then I can just copy and paste it into my post.
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