Scripture: Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Thought for the Day: I’ve always appreciated the writings of Reinhold Niebuhr. At every moment when my sense of self-worth expanded beyond the capacity of my britches, Niebuhr’s words put me back in my place. The human being is capable of marvelous things, but Niebuhr also recognized the human capacity to cause suffering. He believed the harmful acts committed by humans stemmed from pride which in fact was nothing more than a facade hiding one’s insecurities. He wrote in The Pride of Power, “The will-to-power is thus an expression of insecurity even when it has achieved ends which, from the perspective of an ordinary mortal, would seem to guarantee complete security.” He concluded that our grasp for power and security is really the recognition of our “finiteness, weakness and dependence, which become more apparent the more we seek to obscure them…” People who recognize their own value, but not at the expense of others, are capable of marvelous God-inspired works. The problem lies when that sense of value expands to arrogance. Humility, a trait one can learn through Spiritual Disciplines like fasting, helps us understand the unhealthiness of an over-inflated ego.
Prayer: Remind me of the value you see within me, O Lord, but also give me the vision to see the same value in every other creature. Amen.
TODAY
This coming Sunday
“A Bounteous Fast”
Matthew 6:16-21
