Humbleness

James 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”

I must intentionally make this short, for if I write on pride it will be at length, for it is still a great struggle of mine. I work alone; I have many reasons, but the primary is a horrible experience with one of my last employees. I experienced a ton of emotions that were all bad, and it took an act of God in me to experience forgiveness for them. It was a great turning point in my life, and an example of how God can use even the worst situations in life for good. I forgave him, but still carry that weight today and the fear of people that offer to help. With the problems of my shoulder, and the physical demands of my work, it puts great strains on me. Can you see pride still rooted in that?

Pride is the root of all sin. It can be traced back down to the root of all you fail in. It can be traced all the way back to the Garden of Eden; all the way back to Satan’s fall from heaven in the  desire to be like God. There is evidence of it in your life too; even the denial of a struggle with it is a prideful statement. James is putting it as plainly as he can in the scripture above; God wants nothing to do with the prideful person; God loves and provides for the humble. It is only through that humble heart that you come to Salvation through repentance. At the beginning of Christ’s ministry, he spoke of this same repentance as John the Baptist. Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repentance will never come to a heart that is filled with pride. In your pride you will always fell that you CAN accomplish it on your own by works of some sort.

In a heart that comes to the realization of it’s need for Christ; there is a humility found there. The realization of a life steep in sin and the need for a Savior will bring the forgiveness in it; or the condemnation in the pride of it. If you feel that you can ever earn it, you will die in it. You must understand the concept of grace, God giving you something that you cannot earn, and do not deserve. You sin because you are a sinner, you are not a sinner because you sin. Your pride wants you to believe the secondary; Satan lives there. Pride will always be a struggle, but pride can be kept at bay by the grace of God. Look at the promises found in the next verses. James 4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8a Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. A humble heart is a heart close to God.