All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5 (NIV)
Humility is a lifelong struggle. It is a constant battle. There is never a time in life when it is easy to be humble.
Pride is like flour in a mill. It gets everywhere, and it goes on being produced every time the mill is working. You are always trying to keep it down, but you never fully manage to clear it up! No one ever gets free from the struggle against pride this side of heaven.
Pastor C. H. Spurgeon tells the story of a lady who came up to him one Sunday and said, “Mr. Spurgeon, I pray every day that you will be kept humble.” Spurgeon thanked her, and then asked if she was praying the same thing for herself. “Oh no!” she said. “There is no need. I don’t think that there is any tendency in me to be proud.” That’s the subtlety of pride. We are never in greater danger of being proud as when we think that we are humble.
In his excellent book, The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis sets out Satan’s strategies for tempting a Christian, “If the Christian becomes humble, draw his attention to the fact. He will soon become proud of his humility.” Pride is like a cataract that grows over the eye, so that you no longer see clearly. We feel that we are in the right and cannot see our own faults.
On a scale of 0 (complete peace) to 10 (an all-out war) how would you describe your battle against pride? Why did you answer this way?
