The Proud Need Only Themselves

Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.  James 4:10

One thing to remind the self, and our brothers and sisters who need it, is that humbling does not equal humiliating ourselves. So often the new believer thinks that it is somehow holy or pious to constantly despise themselves. Even the veteran soldier of the Lord strong in His armor tends to see every imperfection and make much of it by way of proving humility falsely.  Paul did not tell us to smear mud on the Lord's armor, but to put it on. Some of us stumble at times along the way and show to the world that we somehow missed the bit about mercy, forgiveness, and grace so down on ourselves we are in the depressed moment. We do not show humility in this but forgetfulness of what the Lord has done for us!

The proud need only themselves. You and I need the Lord our God. And in Him we find... wait for it... mercy, forgiveness and grace. Humility is agreeing with the Lord about what He has done in us and where we have been. Our prayer may do well to say, "Thank You, dear Lord, that You have made me not as I was." Wandering morosely in the regretful past does not prove humility before the Lord, it only convinces the unbeliever that he does not want to be us. Standing firm in Christ saying, "I was this sort of thing, but He has made me into a new creature!" shows that we acknowledge our sin before Him and we rejoice in His rebirth of us to a new life. 

We need the Lord; He is making us new!

Bucky