Proverbs 29:23. One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.
Jesus taught us the same thing as today’s proverb. He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
This is pretty much the opposite of what the world around us is telling us. Especially in the west, we live in the world of expressive individualism. Supreme independence and self-expression. Ironically, to be morally good you must live an authentic life, true to yourself, where you create your own morals.
Expressive individualism puts ourselves at the center of our lives. The most important thing I can do is be myself. Self-promote. Self-actualize (become who I want to be). But for the Christian, this should create a huge problem. We are not the center of our lives, Christ is. We are called to promote him, express him, declare him, actualize him, literally we are becoming like Jesus the Truth, not our true selves.
At the end of the day, expressive individualism is just another form of the same old pride that’s been around since chapter 3 of the Bible. Adam and Eve wanted to be “like God.” How? By knowing good and evil, right and wrong, and not just knowing it, but determining it for themselves.
The warning is that this pride will bring us low. It sure did for Adam and Eve. Shame. Hiding. Division. Eviction. Death. By contrast, the lowly in spirit are the ones that God honors.
This radical thought would have literally made no sense to ancient man. It makes almost no sense to us today. The only reason why someone might embrace bits of this philosophy today is because we have lived within a Christian culture for 2000 years. But in Solomon’s time, as well as in Jesus’ time, no one would have believed this. In those honor-shame cultures the only way to be honored was to raise yourself up while lowering those around you. Solomon himself would fall into this trap of pride, wouldn’t he? His self-promotion led to the splitting of his empire.
The truth is that each and every one of us is full of pride. It’s inborn. We all naturally self-promote. We don’t need the culture to tell us how, we are proud by nature. There’s only been one person who did not promote themselves, express themselves, seek to actualize themselves. Jesus. He alone went lower and lower and raised the Father higher and higher. He promoted God. He expressed the Father. He was Spirit- actualized. It wasn’t Jesus’ pride that landed him on the cross. It was his humility and grace. His selfless love. As a result, Jesus alone deserves all honor, praise, and glory.
What is the trajectory of your life? Prideful self-promotion or lowliness of spirit? In Christ it can and must be the second. It will be the second. Everything we do from pride will not last. It is wood, hay, stubble that will burn in the flames of God’s holiness. But all that is done from humble trust and faith in Christ alone is gold, silver, precious stones that will be to the praise of his glorious grace now and forevermore.
You: What is the trajectory of your life? Pride or humility?
You in Christ: If the humble Jesus lives in you, how does that change how you view self-promotion and self-expression?
Christ in you: What will a lowly spirit literally look like for you today?
Pray: Father, I trust you to lift me up in Christ. I don’t need to seek praise and honor, let me be satisfied with honoring Jesus. Amen.
To Live is Christ 