More on Humility

I’ve been reading the book of Proverbs in my devotions (there’s 31 chapters so one for every day of the month), and it really is amazing. It’s a lot of common sense stuff the no-nonsense practical advice that we really need and is a great example of God’s wisdom that He gives to those who listen to Him. One verse that I say that struck me was 27:2, “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips.” I wrote about humility the other day and this is a bit of an addition to it. I am guilty of this, there are times (I try to keep them few and far between) where I say “Man! I’m pretty good at this!” The though, is this there is nothing wrong with a little confidence (in baseball it is a necessity) but pride or to use a “fancy” word, hubris is wrong. When I go around and gloat by saying I’m the best baseball player or the best baker I take the glory away from God, I shift my focus on myself and away from Him. When I do my thing and take satisfaction in that, then my focus is not on myself but on the joy I get from what I’m doing and then the praise goes where it should. When you let others praise you instead of instantly praising yourself you get yourself in the right perspective, and you derive your joy in the satisfaction of others, not in how good you are at something. While confidence is never a bad thing, boastfulness definitely is. And on the same note as my last post, this doesn’t mean you go around saying you’re the worst or that you’re not good at what you do, it just means you don’t seek pleasure in being number one. If I baked a batch of biscotti and they came out burnt, sure they didn’t come out well but isn’t the real joy in baking them?