Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is more deserving of unparalleled luxury and opulence than any person living in the world today, or for that matter, any person that has ever lived. Yet, we see from God’s Word that there was no fanfare at the time of his birth. There were no lavish celebrations or elaborate gifts to welcome our King into the earth. He was born in a manger; the very same place were animals were customarily fed. Joseph and Mary had been traveling to Bethlehem to pay the taxes that Caesar Augustus decreed. She was very near to giving birth, and they looked for lodging but was told that there was no room for them in the inn. Heavenly Father made sure that we could know and understand the humble beginnings of our precious Lord and Savior. Christ lowered himself from the majesty of his Father’s throne to come to earth, and this demonstrates the level of humility that all God’s children must have.
From the moment we awaken each day to the time we lay our heads on our pillows at night, all day long, we are faced with the choice to humble ourselves before God or to yield to the temptation of becoming too focused on ourselves and what the world offers. With all this worldly opposition, humility is a state of being that many wrestle and struggle to achieve. It can be a knockdown, drag out battle in our minds and hearts to put away arrogance and selfishness, and stick to God’s agenda of love.
Heavenly Father commands us in Colossians 3:12-14(NLT), “12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” From this passage in His matchless Word, we must recognize that the struggle to be humble in Christ is well worth it. Proverbs 22:4 affirms that when we surrender our will for God’s Will, He will reward our humility with riches, honor, and long life.
A beautiful and powerful spiritual discipline is to pray and surrender our day to the Holy Spirit each morning. We should ask him to take over our days and pray for the patience and spiritual insight to recognize his promptings. Jesus Christ lived in total surrender to God, and this is what God requires of all of us as well. Jesus Christ said in John 5:30(NLT), “I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.” Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is fully man and fully God. When he walked the earth and lived among us, he had the gift of free-will. He’s letting us know in John 5:30 that he was pleased to lay down his will and do the Will of God, the One who sent him to earth to save us all.
God always knows best, and there are some things in His Word that He tells us not to do, because those actions and behaviors are sinful. Sinful actions and behaviors cause us to betray ourselves. They can seem pleasurable to us in the moment, because they make our flesh feel good, but they harm our souls. Jesus Christ asked in Matthew 16:26(NLT), “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” In this verse, Jesus is giving us information about the enormous value God has placed on a human soul. He says that even if we gained the entire world with its vast riches and treasures, it is nothing compared to the value or loss of our souls.
God is our Creator. He created the human soul in such a way that it facilitates oneness with Him. But when our souls have allowed arrogance to take root and grow, our hearts can become hardened towards God’s Will. Heavenly Father tells us in Proverbs 16:18(NIV) that “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” A ‘haughty spirit’ is a spirit of arrogance. We call it things like ‘having a big head’ or being ‘too big for your own britches.” We all get this way from time to time. On occasion, we might give ourselves too many pats on the back for our accomplishments, but it’s very dangerous to let self-importance tip the scale into arrogance.
Arrogance is an attitude of superiority that cause us to think too highly of ourselves. An arrogant person will always choose what’s best for “ME” over what is best for the “WE”. God isn’t pleased with this at all. Arrogance is really the first lesson we learn about sin, because this ugliness began when the devil tried to stage a coup and overtake God’s throne. We also saw it in Adam and Eve, the first couple, and we see it woven throughout the Bible in the hearts of men and women that abdicated God’s love for their own agendas.
In the Old Testament, God anointed David to be the next king of the people of Israel. In Acts 13:22, God said, “‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.” We see very clearly from God’s Word that David had a heart that pleased God. This is not to say that David was perfect. He made mistakes, and some were doozies, but he humbled himself before our Heavenly Father and wanted to please Him. We can learn a lot about the battle to remain humble from David, and we should all want God to say that, like David, we are after God’s own heart.
Prior to David’s reign, Saul had been chosen, but he was the opposite of David. He didn’t learn humility through the lessons of life. Instead, he let his position and authority as king go to his head. It was Samuel, God’s prophet, that followed God’s instruction and anointed Saul. 1Samuel 10:1(NLT) tells us, “Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it over Saul’s head. He kissed Saul and said, “I am doing this because the Lord has appointed you to be the ruler over Israel, his special possession.”
Saul was 30 years-old when he became king, and he looked the part. He was very handsome, virile, and taller than most. He was adored and praised, and had all the trappings of wealth and power, but again, he became full of himself. Like the record of Saul and countless others who go against the Will of God, we can see that an attitude of superiority and self-importance is a recipe for disaster. Even so, no matter how awful the taste of arrogance and egotism, it has been served up for centuries.
The big problem with Saul, and with many of us today, is that he didn’t guard his heart with God’s Word and Will. As the years went on, he defied God’s instructions and took matters into his own hands. This ultimately led to his defeat and death in battle. The wisdom of Proverbs 4:23 warns us to guard our hearts above all else, because the heart is what’s most important to God. Only He knows whether we are truly devoted to Him, and when we aren’t, we stand to lose everything.
Saul’s heart turned against God, and his actions proved that he didn’t honor God’s sovereignty. Saul is just one of many. There are countless examples of individuals that lose everything they hold dear because of arrogance. They have misunderstood or ignored the reality that we all belong to God, and He is the Source of all our blessings. Proverbs 19:21 tells us that we can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will always prevail. So, we must recognize that arrogance towards God’s Will and Word is a costly mistake, and we should do all we can to make sure we never go down that path. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
“Arrogance Will Cost You Everything”, written for victoryinjesuschrist.life. Copyright© 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
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