Matthew 23:12
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others. The vice I am talking about is Pride or Self-conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility.
In fact, if you want to find out how proud you are, the easiest way is to ask yourself, "How much do I dislike it when other people snub me, or refuse to take any notice of me, or shove their oar in, or patronise me, or show off?"
Now what you want to get clear is that Pride is essentially competitive-it is competitive by its very nature...
As long as you are proud, you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.
He (God) is trying to make you humble in order to make this moment possible: trying to take off a lot of silly, ugly, fancy-dress in which we have all got ourselves up and are strutting about like the little idiots we are.
And if you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.
C.S. Lewis ~Mere Christianity~
I read this book for the first time 16 years ago, and it changed my life! I try to re-read it every few years, which I am doing now, and it never gets old. I am praying that God will develop humility in me and strip me of the pride in my heart that I am acutely aware of these days.
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1 comment:
as i'm reading this i'm thinking we've been talking about pride a long time - 16 years???? i also think unfortunately i'll need to be talking about it at least 16 more but probably the rest of my life. good reminder. ang
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