| “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” |
| —Daniel 4:37 |
Pride seems to erase gratitude. Have you ever thought about that? And the reverse seems true as well: gratitude seems to erase pride. How does that happen?
Scripture gives us a multitude of examples of people and nations filled with pride that God had to humble. For example in Ezekiel 28:17, God said to the city of Tyre:
Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.
Even Satan himself, filled with pride, heard these words from God recorded in Isaiah 14:13:
You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.
We all have those things in our lives for which we are tempted to invest our pride. Whether it’s:
- “my body of work”
- “my family”
- “my home”
- “my beauty”
- “my talent”
- “my charming personality”
- “my something else.”
When we take personal credit, gloat over others, or try to impress others, we have taken those things that God has given us and turned them into objects of our own personal pride. We have forgotten that God is the source of every good and perfect gift in our lives.
Even countries, cities, and churches can become prideful about the wonderful things that have come their way through God’s grace. When I hear people talk about “American Exceptionalism,” I agree in part. But, I wish those who speak so pridefully of this characteristic of our nation would also recognize that God has “shed His grace on us.” As a nation, we have been extraordinarily blessed by Him. We simply cannot take sole credit for anything our nation has.
Can we feel pleasure in the things God has uniquely given us? Certainly. But, when that pleasure erupts into praise of self and a sense of willful pride, we have crossed a line. When sinful pride creeps into our thinking, we should step back, realize all God has done for us in creating us with gifts and abilities that He has chosen to give to us, and gratefully bow in worship before our great God. He gives us gifts of all sorts. And, He wants us to joyfully use them to glorify Him.
In our example of Nebuchadnezzar at the beginning of this blog post, we see a pagan king, who experienced the humbling of God, pausing to reflect on this powerful, righteous One. How much more should we daily acknowledge God’s work in us. We should take no credit. Instead, we should bow in grateful praise. Everything we have should be on display for God’s glory—not ours!
