2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.
C.S. Lewis in his book, Mere Christianity, calls pride the Great Sin. He shares pride’s opposite virtue is Humility. Pride and Humility, a two-sided coin. What about our Christian lives, are we prideful or humble? Perhaps, we may be both. Now, pride in itself is not something God forbids. We all take pride in our work, our families, our own selves, however when the prideful side of the coin is all we seem to see—our relationship with God and God’s important role in our lives is pushed aside. When considering the two-sided coin of Pride and Humility, Lewis says,
“God wants you to know Him: wants to give you Himself. And He and you are two things of such a kind that if you really get into any kind of touch with Him you will, in fact, be humble—delightedly humble, feeling the infinite relief of having for once got rid of all the silly nonsense about your own dignity which has made you restless and unhappy all your life. He is trying to make you humble in order to make this moment possible: trying to take off a lot of silly, ugly, fancy-dress in which we have all got ourselves up and are strutting about like the little idiots we are. I wish I had got a bit further with humility myself: if I had, I could probably tell you more about the relief, the comfort, of taking the fancy-dress off—getting rid of the false self, with all its “Look at me’ and ‘Aren’t I a good boy?’ and all its posing and posturing. To get even near it, even for a moment, is like a drink of cold water to a man in a desert.”
Lewis goes on to say, “if anyone would like to acquire humility, then the first step is to realize that one is proud.” May we recognize our prideful moments, where our self is getting in the way of God in our lives, and humble ourselves before God.
Matt