Does a word ever occupy your mind – and then you end up having to look it up in the dictionary to give it a rest? It was that way with me this weekend. The word was arrogance, “showing an offensive attitude of superiority.”
“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2 NIV).
I remember when humility and wisdom together struck me like a hammer my senior year in high school. One evening I decided I was too proud of my long brown curls. Convinced there was nothing attractive about me except my hair, I thought it wonderfully self-sacrificing and holy to chop it off. I don’t know if there is such thing as a holy drama queen, but it made perfect sense to me then.
As I walked around campus the next day comparing myself to other less-than-holy students, I flicked my hair off my shoulders. I stopped in my tracks when I realized I was enamored with my own humility. Yup, proud of being humble. Can you believe it? Cutting my hair had done nothing to curb my pride.
“The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity” (verse 3).
Thankfully, I heard that inner voice directing me to the realization that nothing I do to my appearance can change my heart.
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In my previous post here, I highlighted some proverbs that speak to diligence vs. laziness, wealth vs. poverty. Here are a few more to consider.
“Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death” (verse 4) and “Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf” (verse 28).
It’s a good thing to work hard to produce enough to meet my needs and to share with others, but I can’t put my trust in wealth in every situation. Righteousness always has more value.
by Kathy Sheldon Davis
kathysheldondavis.com 