Pride, Humility & Being Esteemed
In 1994, I had the opportunity to do a three-month international internship in Argentina. The plan was for me to take Spanish lessons in the morning (despite my name being Carlos, I am not fluent in Spanish) and to work in the afternoons.
While I was excited about this great opportunity, it was a difficult decision for me. Just two months before I was to leave, I proposed to Susanne, and the idea of being on another continent and with limited communication was not ideal.
When I arrived in Argentina, I was told that my Spanish tutor was very ill and that my language lessons were not going to happen as planned. Additionally, I got word about the Northridge, CA earthquake, which was mere miles from where Susanne was living (thankfully she was unharmed).
To say this internship got off to a rough start would be an understatement. And it should come as no surprise that there were many times when I questioned the decision I had made. I was lonely and frustrated, and the idea of going home sounded all so good.
During this time, there was one morning when there was a knock on the door of my apartment. When I opened it, there was the head of the organization with a coffee, a breakfast sandwich, and an English newspaper. He smiled, handed me all three, and said, “I figured you would be homesick.” With that, he hugged me and said, “See you soon”, and walked away.
I was dumbfounded. Here was the head of this organization with a laundry list of things to do and people to meet, yet he humbled himself to serve a lowly intern, and here I am more than 30 years later writing about it; it clearly made an impact.
Humility.
It is something we do not see much in our world today, but it is something that we should all embrace as it is foundational to living a full life.
I Hate It!
Every one of us has an ego. Some are bigger than others, but no matter who we are, we are susceptible to pride and the damage it can do to us and to others.
Scripture is very clear when it speaks about pride and humility, and in this case God does not mince words.
In the book of Proverbs, Solomon writes about 7 things God hates. The first one on this list? Pride, or as the author puts it, “haughty eyes.”
He does not say murder or theft; he says pride; it is the number one thing on God’s list of abominations.
Later in the book of ProverbsSolomon goes further when he writes, "The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished."
Talk about a wake-up call!
In our lives, we tend to rank sins. We know the really bad ones, but when it comes to pride, we tend to gloss over it and attempt to reframe it. Rather than calling it pride, we label it self-assurance, confidence, or ambition.
It does not matter what label we assign to it; it is still pride, and it does not make it any better in the eyes of a Holy God.
Why?
Because pride is the original sin.
It's what got Lucifer thrown out of heaven.
It's what Adam and Eve embraced and led to them being thrown out of the garden, and was the fall of man.
At its root, pride says, "I know better than God. I don't need God. I am my own god."
And the reality is we are not even close to who God is in all of His glory and majesty.
Humble, Yet Esteemed
Back to my experience in Argentina. This was humility in action, and it should come as no surprise that those who walk humbly are favored by God.
In their epistles, both James and Peter state that God shows favor to the humble. And in the book of Isaiah, we see a description of those who will be esteemed by God when it states, "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word."
Humble and contrite in spirit. This is the kind of person that God is drawn to and promises to favor.
Living humbly is the kind of life that leads to true fulfillment, peace, and joy.
So What Does Godly Humility Actually Look Like?
Humility isn't weakness or self-loathing. It isn’t walking around with a low self-esteem or pretending you have no gifts or talents.
Godly humility is an accurate assessment of who I am in light of God’s greatness and power.
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul writes about the humility of Christ, who left His heavenly throne and humbled Himself. How did he do that? He “took the form of a bond-servant and became the likeness of man.”
This is an indication of the gap that exists between all of us and a perfect and all-powerful God and underscores why I have zero reason to be prideful.
We are mere men, and He is God. As Paul writes, the only thing I can boast in is “His work in me,” because I bring absolutely nothing to the table.
Where This Leaves Us
None of us likes to admit how much we struggle with pride.
It lurks in our ambition, our need to be right, our resistance to correction, our comparison with others, our lack of contentment, and most often is the source of those times when we get angry.
But knowing how much God hates pride and promises to esteem the humble, it should force us to our knees in confession and repentance before God and produce a heart of thankfulness and praise for all that He continues to do in and for us.
The question isn't whether you have pride. Every one of us does.
The question is whether you're willing to stand before God and know that, in comparison, we are nothing and that it is only through putting our trust in Him that we can become something - a joint heir and a recipient of the free gift of life.
The prophet Micah writes plainly of who we are (mere mortals) and the impact this should have on how we live when he writes, "He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."
May we all do the same.
Running the race with you,
Carlos
This edition was first published in The Life Design Newsletter on LinkedIn.