Proverbs 16:18
Today’s
proverb is one of the most quoted. And yet, we ourselves don’t often really
listen to its message. We allow pride to slowly creep into our lives. Is there
such a thing as good pride? What about positive self-esteem? Shouldn’t we feel
good about who we are in Christ?
My
first response is to ask this question: who said we are to allow our feelings
to guide our lives? That’s right! Feelings are not the most important factor in
choosing our actions. In fact, feelings often lead us to not choose, but simply
react to circumstances.
We
are forgiven, whether we feel it or not, because of Jesus’ substitutionary
death on the Cross. When we trust that fact, we are forgiven. It makes no
difference whether we feel it or not. It is a fact. Feelings don’t change the
facts.
Pride
has to do with a distortion of the facts. As an example, we feel we deserve
more of the credit because of our contribution. We base our valuation of our
contribution on our perspective of the event. But our perspective is just that:
our perspective. We have limited facts. We don’t know the whole story, everyone’s
contribution. We certainly don’t know the extent of God’s involvement. So how
can we say we deserve more credit?
Our
value comes as a result of what Christ did for us. We deserve nothing, and yet
He gives us everything. Can we then take pride in what He gave to us? I don’t
think so. Humility is the proper response. Don’t take credit for something you
didn’t do. And since the very ability to breath is a gift from God, I would say
we don’t have much over which we should be proud.
I
think the Christian response is satisfaction. We see God’s grace around us and
working through us and we give glory to God. And in that response we can be
satisfied. God is good.