I want to begin with three verses,the first is Proverbs 29:23 "A man's pride will bring him low,But the humble in spirit will retain honor."Proverbs 28:25 "He who is of a proud heart stirs up strife,But he who trust in the Lord will be prospered." And lastly Proverbs 27:2 "Let another man praise you,and not your own mouth;A stranger,and not your own lips."With these three verses here we can learn so much about ourselves if we are willing to look into the mirror and not turn away until we really see whats in front of us.We have all battled with pride.We really do like it when others pat us on the back and say,"Good job." Sometimes we can get a big head when we accomplish something,quickly forgetting that it was the Lord who accomplished this through us, for His glory only,not ours. When we get into an arguement with another,we want to win,we just don't want to roll over,we want to have those impacting words over the other. When we are gifted,when we have talents to showcase,we are showcasing God's gifts through us. Whether its the football player on the field making all the touchdowns,the singer infront of the choir,the director over a cause,the writer,the one who just landed the big promotion,we can get ahead of ourselves,and think we are doing something really big and we want to be that person infront of others.Why do some long for that attention? We cannot feel whole with the gifts we have,until we give the praise and honor to the one it belongs to,God. I have seen the fall that comes with pride,I think we all have at one time or another. We get in the habit of saying ME or I so much,we forget to say,Praise the Lord for this wonderful gift that has touched others. God uses us to reach others for His kingdom.We never do it on our own.Whatever we have achieved here on earth is all because of God,His grace,His gifts He has bestowed upon us. It doesn't matter what we are,what our job is,what we do in a day,or who we are. All that matters is that we have opened our hearts wide for the Lord to shine through us to touch others,and when someone pats you on the back,give it right where it belongs,to Jesus,and Jesus alone....
