From Pride to Praise
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above… -James 1:17
Since coming to Christ a big thing God has been teaching me is humility. The Bible tells us again and again that God wants us to be humble.
Does this mean we have to walk around thinking we never do anything right and that everyone else is doing life better than us?
No! I think some people have misunderstood humility. Humility does not mean low self esteem! Esteem means worth or value, and you are very valuable to God. Because of this truth you should hold yourself valuable. You need to know that you were created with a purpose. You are valuable to the Kingdom!
Humility is understanding where your value comes from. Humility is turning pride into praise. It’s realizing that every good and perfect thing you can do is a gift from God and would not be possible without Him.
For instance:
To be humble I do not have to think I’m a terrible writer, but rather I praise God for giving me the ability to express myself, and I thank Him for giving me something worth writing about! I thank Him for speaking through me and motivating me to write what He has taught me.
To be humble I do not have to think I’m a terrible musician, but I thank God for giving me the gift of musicianship. I look for opportunities to use my gift in worship of Him to bless Him and serve the body.
You see pride is stealing praise from God. So the next time you do something well, praise God for making you and giving you that gift or talent. Ask Him how your gift could be used for the Kingdom.
Glory to God!
He who humbles himself will be exalted. -Matthew 23:12
iwanttobelieveingod 
Hi Justin,
Thank you for a wonderful post – again!
I just LOVE to read what you write about. I love the way you think Justin. It feels to me like we are family, I am so much on the same page with you!!! It feels like this for me almost every time I read what you write about. This is no exception. YES!! I feel this way about humility too. I can not love – but I CAN be a channel for God to love others THROUGH me. Praise God! It’s all about Him; and it always will be. At one time in my Christian walk, I used to think I hated God. Though I know He loved/loves me, and could take it easily; I used to think I was very, very mad at Him. But now I have come to realize that I DO love Him. Love can be about feelings, but I think that Love is mostly expressed by ones’ ACTIONS – and my ACTIONS tell me that I do indeed love Him. I just want to do what He wants me to do – and only that – with my whole heart. Somehow, in your writings, you [through God] have been the one to help me understand this.
robin claire
I hear God in your words – again. Maybe part of it is knowing Who is in control rather than wanting to control.
I completely agree! 🙂
Hi Justin,
I tried to leave a reply earlier but my computer is messed up, so I’m trying again.
I do have value to God. A whole bunch of value in fact. Even though I don’t do life very well on my own and have esteem issues because of that. One thing I try to do as much as I can [and I ask for God’s strength, wisdom, and guidance even in this] is to be His channel. To be the “hands, feet, mouth, & ears” in flesh so that He can love on His other children through me. This gives me GREAT JOY; to be able to be a part of His wonderful, super-natural love. I even get to feel some of it myself when I can do this for Him.
I hope this comment get through ok.
robin claire
It’s awesome what God will do when we offer ourselves to be His channel like you said! May His light shine from you greatly Robin. You are a song to the Lord and He loves you so much! 🙂 God bless
Well said Justin! Blessings, Lori
Much needed commentary on humility. Thanks for sharing your insight.