A Choice

Clothe yourself with humility toward one another because “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5

Pride is so sneaky. I was cleaning my bathrooms the other day and I noticed that there was a section of my shower that had been hiding behind a shampoo bottle that was starting to mildew. It’s interesting to think that over time, in hiding, this spot had grown into a digesting problem and one that was going to be much harder to get rid of than if I had kept up with cleaning that area and not let that spot get so gross. 

I see pride much in the same way. It can creep into my life so subtly and if I don’t recognize it and nip it in the bud, the problem grows. The verse above says God opposes the proud, literally meaning "God rages in battle against". This thought is scary to me. I do not want the God of the universe to oppose me, instead I want what the other half of this verse says, His grace in my weakness and humility. 

Everything in my flesh opposes humility. I want to think I’m important; I want to think of myself and what I want constantly. I want to have everything under control and not need help with anything. But, my God is no where in those things. 

When I only think of myself; I am quenching His spirit that lives in me. His spirit allows me to serve and see the needs He wants me to meet for others. His Spirit allows me to see the people around me as more important than me. His Spirit battles my entitlement and allows me to be unassuming. His Spirit helps me to see that I need Him every second of every day; that the control I want is just an illusion and that me controlling things will never make me happy…. I honestly do want to live in the Spirit because if I don’t, I know what is left is a void life of intense selfishness. 

I have the choice. “Clothe" is the very first word in this verse. The definition of this verse means “to tie around you.”  When I see that pride creeping in, when I start to notice that I am focusing too much on me, I can make a conscious choice to instead put on humility. I can chose to stop and pray for someone who has a need to take my mind off of me. I can write out verses about humility and read them over and over again in the day asking God to change my heart and make it more like His. I can plan a time to serve in some capacity asking God to give me His heart of humility in my service. 

I love that my God never leaves me where I am; He is always stretching me, always showing me things about myself that don’t please Him and I know He is always thinking of my good. He wants me to be His hands and feet on this earth and He knows I cannot be those things if I am living in a world of self consumption. I am ever grateful that He never gives up on me.He truly is the "LORD  who longs to be gracious to me, so he can show me his love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God." Isaiah 30:18