Humbling the Proud

All of us need to be on guard every day. We need to watch for pride swelling up in our hearts. It is a by-product of the flesh. If we go by our flesh, instead of allowing the Spirit to fill us and guide us, we will end up getting proud of ourselves in various ways. We can be proud of our appearance and our intelligence. We can become proud because of things that we have done in our lives. It doesn't matter what the source of the pride is, the pride will damage us.

King Nebuchadnezzar had to learn this lesson the hard way. God had to bring him down to live as a wild animal for seven periods of time, possibly seven years. Only then did he learn this lesson. (Daniel 4:37) "Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and glorify and honor the King of heaven. All His acts are just and true, and He is able to humble the proud." He finally realized who was Lord of all and who had given him the ability to do all that he had done in his life and in his kingdom.

Pride is easy to understand. It is any time that we think we have done something on our own, by our own power or intellect, so that we deserve the recognition for what has been done. We all need to realize that this is never the case for any human being. We didn't bring about our own birth, and we did not give ourselves any of the qualities we have today. All that we have has come from the goodness of God on us. If we take credit for any of those things, we are robbing God of what He deserves.

Just like Nebuchadnezzar we all need to praise the Lord for who He is. He is soo powerful and wise and loving. Everything He does is just and true. He deservers all of the glory for everything we are and all that we do. We need to tell others that when they attempt to give us credit for things we do. We need to honor Him in all we say and do by lifting Him up for everyone to see that He is the Sovereign, Supreme Lord of all. Then, He will never have to humble us for being proud.

Tomorrow, I intend to read Daniel 5-7.