Philippians 2:3 (NIV)
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves…”
- Ever find yourself thinking something isn’t fair?
- “Why do *I* have to do it?”
- “Why ME?!”
- “That isn’t fair!”
- “This is too hard. I don’t want to do it, so I’m not going to!”
Unfortunately, in our society, when you don’t “feel” like doing something, you’re encouraged to NOT do it! We’ve put ourselves up on these pedestals and convinced ourselves that we’re important enough to ONLY do what WE feel like doing. I exist, therefore I am entitled to happiness and living on easy street. I’ve been dealt a bad hand, so I should be living the good life now. My happiness comes before anything or anyone else. The universe wants me happy. It’s MY time to be happy!
Say hello to PRIDE, people. It’s an ugly beast that will creep its way in to your heart. It’ll affect the way you view the world, the way you view other people, the way you interact with your co-workers, family, friends, strangers. And most importantly, it’ll distort your view of God.
How often have you heard someone ask, “Why me?” My response has always been, “Why not you?”
Why shouldn’t you be the one to do the dishes? Why shouldn’t you be the one to pick up the 5 millionth sock laying on the floor? Why shouldn’t you be the one to work overtime? Why shouldn’t you be the one to call a family member first? What makes you grumble the most? Now ask yourself why someone else should have to do it. Why not you? To exalt yourself up so high that you feel like you’re better than something is a dangerous place to be. (That’s a mighty high horse your’e on.)
For my fellow brothers and sisters that live in a home with a family. If you have kids and they’re old enough to do chores. Your spouse should be helping carry the load of the housework. I know it’s hard to say, “I’ll happily pick up the kids socks after I told them to pick them up 43 times!” I’m not suggesting we become a doormat for people to walk all over us. But, imagine if your whole family has the same mindset. Imagine if your teenagers asked themselves “Why should I have mom pick up after me?” What if your spouse thought, “Why should I wait for my wife/husband do the dishes tonight? Why shouldn’t I just go ahead and do them myself?” Lead by example. Can I sound cliche for a second?
Become the change you want to see.
You can’t expect your spouse and kids to change their behavior if you’re not willing to change yours.
In the dictionary, pride is listed as kind of a positive thing. Having pride in ones self, the state of being proud, having a high opinion of self, pleasure or satisfaction in something you’ve done, the best of the class. Now, check out the synonyms (for those of us who have been out of school a while, a synonym is a word that has the same meaning):
- Conceit
- Self-Esteem
- Egotism
- Vanity
And if you look at the antonym (opposite 
): Humility
James 4:6 – God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble
Proverbs 11:2 – When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom
Psalm 10:4 – In his pride the wicked man does not seek him, in all his thoughts there is no room for God
Proverbs 18:12 – Pride comes before a disaster, but humility comes before respect
Romans 12:3 – For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
Romans 12:16 – Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
When we remove ourselves from the picture, we allow Christ to show through. Our nature is a sinful one. We want to do all the bad things! When Christ comes to live in our hearts, we need to remove our pride and sinful nature so we can let Christ shine. Let the world see His light in you.
Our nature is to exalt something, whether it’s ourselves, money, our careers, or any other worldly thing. Let the thing you chose to exalt be our Father.
He alone deserves your praise and worship.
Be a humble servant to Him by being a humble servant to others.