“Pride takes us on a journey of trying to elevate ourselves to be like God, to reach the same height at which he dwells! It’s a place we can’t force ourselves into; it’s available to us through invite only. And the invite has a prerequisite: humility. . . . We can go there only if God elevates us and equips us.”- Joel Muddamalle
“The haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.”- Isaiah 2:17 (ESV)
Joel Muddamalle concludes Chapter 6 of The Hidden Peace as he talks about one of the most commonly used Old Testament Hebrew words to describe pride. One can translate gaon as ‘height, eminence, majesty, or pride’. Proverbs 8:13 and 16:18 use gaon in a literal or metaphorical sense to describe pride and ambition.
Most significantly, Joel notes, biblical authors associate pride with height and elevation — a really important connection. Because pride attempts to raise us above the wisdom of God. However, when we turn back to the origin story of humanity, we find that God created humanity from the dust of the ground. In fact, the word humility comes from the Latin word humus, meaning ‘the ground or soil.’
Therefore, Joel defines the beauty of humility:
“The beauty of humility is that it is where God breathes life into us. When we are in this posture, he swoops down from the heights of heaven to pick us up and elevate us with him as children of the King, placing us where we can experience true peace.”
Conversely, Joel counsels, pride:
- invites us to lie to ourselves and feel good about it.
- is never worth the pain it brings, because the promise of pride is never true.
- takes us outside of truth.
- swaps out The Bible tells me to for My heart tells me to.
In conclusion, Joel stresses that Satan went down the path of pride himself. Hence, when we take a close look at the Enemy’s story, we better understand how ‘pride traps’ work. And what we need to do to avoid them.
Today’s question: What Bible verses help us not to elevate ourselves to be like God? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Our preoccupation with self”