Humble Ground

I was leading a bible study in a cell group last Friday. The discussion ends at 11pm and we had a closing prayer to thank God for His guidance. All the while I taught that I’m doing a good job in executing the flow and managed to convey most of the message. I knew I have spent a lot of time in preparing this, and no doubt all the hard work will not go in vain. And yes, I was proud of myself.

I was holding my pride for some time, doing things my way and undermine what other people have done.

It didn’t take long until someone comment about the bible study that I conducted. I was expecting good answers like ‘wow, you are great’ or ‘hey, thanks for your effort on the bible study’.

Instead, what I heard is ‘you need to be more flexible’, ‘there is not enough sharing’, ‘and you missed out some point’ etc. I can feel my pride being crushed into little pieces. At first I was rebellious, and was defending myself through by giving some excuses and by explaining my own ‘perfect’ way. The pride has shielded me away from God, and all the while it is me, me and me only.

I calmed myself down during midnight, thinking about the past, present, and future. It is funny that often when we said that we can accept any comments from others, but in the end we defend against their comments. I was ready to listen to the comments, but not ready to accept it. The stumbling block is non other than pride itself.

I prayed to God for forgiveness, and to grant me strength to be humble-wholeheartedly. Indeed, the next day I was able to view things differently, and thank God I was saved from the sin that has long affecting my life – pride.

Pride is a sin. It controls our emotion and will pull us away from God if we are not aware of it. It is like a cancer that spreads throughout your whole body, leading to other sins like greed and hatred. Pride makes us think we are God, in fact we are not. It is because of pride that Adam & Eve ate the forbidden fruit. In pride there is no love, no care, and no mercy.

We serve God not because we are good at anything. We serve God because He loved us first. He took His initial step, to become one of us, as Jesus, and teach us how to love one another, and to serve others who are in need.

Let us humbly come into His presence, and follow His foot steps, towards righteousness, glory and honor.