God clearly states that He is drawn
to the humble. He's also clear that He
opposes the proud. These two, humility
and pride, cannot coexist. Where one is
fostered, the other is defeated.
Which will you pursue?
C. J. Mahaney paints a striking picture
of the daily battle quietly raging
within every Christian and asks whether
you will passively accommodate the
enemy of your soul, pride, or actively
cultivate your best friend, humility.
When you acknowledge the deception of
pride and intentionally humble
yourself, you become free to savor
abundant mercies and unlikely graces.
You will find a new life is yours—a
life God richly favors. A God-
glorifying life you don't want to miss.
There is an inherent paradox
in humility. As believers in
Christ Jesus, we are in the
pursuit of humility. God says
that He will give grace to the
humble (James 4:6). Certainly
we long to experience more of
God’s grace, so we pursue
humility.
On the other hand, the very
fact that we are seeking to be
humble seems to undermine
humility. Our tendency is to
brag about how humble we are.
So, it is a somewhat elusive
pursuit.
C.J Mahaney’s new book is
about this elusive character
trait. According to Mahaney,
humility is true greatness.
We usually think of
super-talented sports stars,
successful businessmen or
celebrities as great. But
Scripture paints a very
different picture of what
constitutes true greatness.
Mahaney constructs a
definition of humility as:
honestly assessing ourselves
in light of God’s holiness and
our sinfulness. He goes on to
say, “That’s the twin reality
that all genuine humility is
rooted in: God’s holiness and
our sinfulness. Without an
honest awareness of both these
realities, all self-evaluation
will be skewed and we’ll fail
to either understand or
practice true humility”.
Of course, our great enemy in
the pursuit of humility is
pride. Pride rears its head
in nearly every undertaking of
man. It is always present,
aching to be revealed. But
the Bible says that God hates
pride. Why? “Pride is when
sinful humans aspire to the
status and position of God and
refuse to acknowledge their
dependence upon Him” (p.28 of
manuscript – may be different
in final print). Mahaney
quotes this definition of
pride’s essence: “Pride lifts
up the heart against God; it
contends for supremacy with Him.”
This book does a good job of
defining and identifying both
pride and humility. It gives
an accurate view of what is
true greatness. However, the
strength of the book is the
last section: The Practice of
True Humility. Chapters 5-12
give practical methods of
cultivating biblical humility,
based on the definition above.
Of course, these practices
are drawn from the authors own
experience and may be somewhat
different for others. But,
the suggestions listed are an
excellent starting point for
anyone who is interesting in
weakening pride and
cultivating humility. Mahaney
has offered the Christian
community a solidly biblical,
intensely practical
examination of this most
elusive quality of the
Christian life. I highly
recommend it! Read ‘em & Reap!
-
Brad
