Oh My That's Big!

Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.

Proverbs 29:23

I have met many people who think quite a lot of themselves and aren't afraid to share with anyone who will listen (and a few who would rather not listen) just how awesome they believe themselves to be.  Ego.....the over inflated (and flawed) self aggrandized view of oneself.  Of course, NO ONE fits that description do they. 

 

Scripture teaches over and over that we need to be careful about becoming prideful (big ego).  Scripture reminds us that we are to be humble!  We are to put others first.  This is difficult for us as human beings.  We like to have our egos stroked.  We like to hear how wonderful we are.  We like to be recognized and rewarded for our efforts. And these are not bad things, the danger comes when we begin self-advertising ourselves as more than we truly are.

 

When Julius Caesar returned from defeating the Gauls, he was awarded a Triumph, which meant he and his soldiers were given a parade through Rome, with the single condition: A slave was appointed to stand behind Caesar in his chariot and whisper in his ear throughout the parade, "Remember, thou are only a man."  Why? So he would keep his ego in check.

 

My Drill Sergeant told us, as soon as we got off the bus for Basic Training, "My job is to make YOU look good.  When YOU look good, I look good!"  And then he set about training us until we crawled into our bunks exhausted every day and night for 8 weeks.  When we graduated, the Colonel told us that we had impressed him.  

 

When you make others look good, it will reflect back on you.  When you chose not to, that will reflect back on you as well.  Be careful to remain humble!