Yearbook Catastrophe

“So, I have a question for you,” my teacher said at the beginning of class. “How many of you, when you got your yearbook, the first picture that you looked at was your own?”

Over 75% of the class raised their hands. The only reason I didn't raise mine was because I hadn't gotten my yearbook yet. But that gave me the greater responsibility; now, I had the chance to keep my actions in check.

You see, I've also been reading a book called From Pride to Humility. I highly recommend it if you haven't read it before. It's very short but very convicting. God was already working on my heart about pride, and now, my teacher brings up a simple everyday situation that I show pride. Why is pride such a big deal anyway? Because God hates it (Proverbs 8:13, Proverbs 16:5). If I love God, why would be something that God hates?

Pride is seen in so many little ways. The book that I mentioned earlier says that it is the root of all sin. It is what had Satan cast out of heaven. Pride causes us to be focused on self and not focused on God. It makes us talk about ourselves, think low of others, and cut others down. It can also be seen in self-pity because the focus is on yourself, not God. It's easy to be proud in so many ways, so we have to be careful. Even then, we will make mistakes. I still went back and looked at my picture first!

What's the best way to learn humility? Ask God to teach you to be humble (Matthew 7:7). But be prepared because God will teach you even when you least expect it. I'll tell you about that story in a later post.