Proverbs 16:18
“Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
It does not take much for us to begin thinking more highly of ourselves than we should. We display a certain act of skill and someone praises us. Then we hear another word of praise … before long we start believing we really are something special.
I want to share from personal experience how foolish that is. I once stopped by an estate auction where I knew the auctioneer. As a lark I made a bid of one dollar on a box of odds and ends. After returning home and going through the contents of the box, at the bottom I discovered several valuable items. The auctioneer heard about my find and began to praise me for my astute eye for valuables. I never was able to convince him that it was purely a fluke and I had no inkling of what was in the box.
The difficulty that we find when compliments are believed is that we get an inflated view of who we are — as a result we feel that we are entitled to special treatment. Some even feel that they do not need to obey God’s word. They begin to do things that are dishonoring to the name of Christ.
My counsel is to forget thinking highly of ourselves. We need to develop a spirit of humility that always draws attention to Christ … not ourselves.
May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions!
– – – Pastor Cecil