Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Killing Pride & Cultivating Humilty (part 4)

This is the final post regarding killing pride and cultivating humility.

8. Laugh at yourself with others. When you are the object of humor if you cannot laugh at yourself with others pride is normally the root issue. Terry Lindvall writes, "Laughter is a divine gift to the human who is humble. A proud man cannot laugh because he must watch his dignity; he cannot give himself over to the rocking and rolling of his belly. But a poor and happy man laughs heartily because he give no serious attention to his ego" (Surprised by Laughter, pg. 130-131).

9. Cultivate the habit of gratitude. Michael Ramsey writes, "Thankfulness is a soil in which pride does not easily grow." We must discipline ourselves to show gratitude to God and to others. Mahaney writes, "We also want to continue throughout the day expressing gratefulness for the innumerable manifestations of God's grace. It's as if God is placing sticky-notes in our lives as daily reminders of His presence and provision...how perceptive of them are you? An ungrateful person is a proud person" (Humility, pg. 71).

In closing remember the glorious promise of Scripture, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6).

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