“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 14:11, ESV
Pride. What a word. Just five letters in length, but it conveys so much. For many, it is a positive word that reflects a person’s care for self, his things, and the work that he does. Yet this same word can also cause one to forget the sacrifice of our Lord and the great cost that was paid by our Lord for us. It may cause us to forget our need for God and believe that we are owed something by Him. These words come in the midst of a group of parables given by our Lord as He is sitting at dinner with a group of Pharisees. Men who were very respected in the faith community. Outwardly they did all the right things, yet there was still a flaw in their hearts. Pride. Is it right to have pride in your faith? The answer is yes and no. Yes, we should live our lives of faith, doing everything to the best of our ability and to the glory of God. No, even though we do everything well and are even looked well by others for it we should never believe that it has earned us any special place. We should never become puffed up. The heart issues of the Pharisees and other religious leaders of Jesus’ day and still with the religious today is many believe the good work they do earns them merit and should place them in better standing with God. We need not hide the good we do, but at the same time, we should not allow the praises we may receive to go to our heads and make us believe that we are better than we are. No matter how good we are in the world, we are all still sinners in need of a savior. The greatest sinner you know is always reflected back to you when you look into the mirror. It is that reflection to be most pitied and needful of Jesus.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.