My pride and humility have been tested during the past week or so. Over and over, I have seen God use others to call into judgment my decision-making and thought process. Not only that, but God has used circumstances in my life where I would typically be prideful to test my growth. Would I pretend that I know it all or have all the answers, or would I recognize that there is much more for me to learn and that I need help? See, I often struggle with not having it together or feeling like I need others. I know this about myself and often have to bring this area of my life to God each time I pick it up. 

Pride is the oldest sin in scripture and ranges from vanity to desiring to be like God. When the enemy tempted Eve in the garden, he wasn’t simply offering her an apple. He was offering her an opportunity to be like God. One of the scariest things that I have experienced is relishing pride because doing so affects us at our core; It removes the veil from our ego. We enter into a state of vulnerability where we not only have to take a good look at ourselves for who we indeed are but recognize that alone we are inadequate. We see ourselves and allow others to see us the way God sees us, broken, weak, and in need of a savior.

However, realizing that we can not become humble in and of our own doing is just as scary and freeing. There is a fine line between humility and pride that we must tread. Humility does not require us to disregard ourselves as unworthy because we were created intentionally by a God who calls us worthy. Still, it requires us to keep the proper perspective, not exalting ourselves above others. We can not do either by focusing on being humble but only by focusing on God. 

Fearing God helps us realize that everything we are and everything we have is given and can be taken by God. This realization allows us to seek and worship God for our provisions, including our very breathe, home, wealth, families, etc. Doing so, in turn, allows us to freely be who God created us to be in any given moment.

Read Job 1