Humility and Pride

Pride demands an explanation of God. It accuses God and asks Him such questions as: how could You do this to me! Or, how could You allow this pain or evil in my life?

Humility asks for wisdom in trial. Humility takes joy in every trial for through trials we mature. Humility heads the advice of James and asks God for wisdom. Knowing that evil is a part of life it asks God how to victoriously navigate through the evils of this world.

Pride asks of God: what can You do for me? How can you make my life better? It goes to church simply to have a better marriage, have more money, or more happiness. It uses the Almighty, Eternal God as a means to their finite, selfish end.

Humility asks God: how can I best serve You? How can I use my gifts to best encourage and uplift your Bride the Church? It seeks not to be served by all, but to serve all.

Pride sees itself as indispensable. Being wiser or better than all, it fails to learn from any. It views itself as the greatest gift to the Kingdom of God and therefore seeks to lead.

Humility recognizes that God can do all on His own. It is out of God’s mercy, not need, that God graciously allows us to partner with Him in His glorious work of bringing about His Kingdom on earth.

Pride wants recognition.

Humility asks for a freedom from the need of recognition so that it can be free to use its gifts for the Glory of God.

Pride seeks to teach and correct. Viewing itself as right it seeks to deprive people of their freedom in order to mold them into the people that it wrongly thinks they should be.

Humility seeks to be taught and corrected and thereby comes to possess true knowledge and wisdom. For only in being open to correction can one be purged of falsehood and walk in the light. Pride closes its eyes to all the world, thinking it alone knows what is best, and therefore stumbles in darkness.