No Room for Pride

In my Bible Galatians 6:1-6 has been given the heading "Doing Good to All." Paul seems to put together a series of verses that each stand alone in this section. They speak of different aspects of how we should do good to others.

"Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load. Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all goo things with their instructor."

These verses are full of things we should do as the family of God.

As I was reflecting on this passage, I realized there is one key to doing any of these things . . .

Humility.

Without it, any attempt at these things will come across as wrong and could do more harm than good. There's no room for pride in these.

It take humility to gently restore someone caught in sin. In our pride, we might point out sin in someone's life. But we can only restore them if we come to them in  humility - with love and a desire to see them freed from that sin.

Our pride would keep us from admitting we could be tempted to sin as come alongside someone to restore them. It would cause us to see ourselves as better than that. Humility allows us to admit our own weakness and susceptibility to sin.

Pride says we have to carry our own burdens without help from anyone else. Humility gives us the ability to ask for help when it's too much for us alone. It gives us freedom to live in caring community with others.

Pride infaltes our view of ourselves. It deceives us. Our pride will compare us to others and see ourselves as better than. Humility looks at ourselves through God's eyes and see His view. Instead of comparing to others, we ourselves through God's eyes.

Our pride will limit who we are able to learn from. If we are teachers, our pride will interfere with our ability to learn from those we teach. Humility means we can learn from anyone God wants to use to teach us.

Pride will also keep up from sharing what we've learned in a way that blesses others. We will speak down to others when we explain it. When we share it with humility, we share our excitement and love for the truth with others, not just our knowledge.

If we're going to live the way God intended for His family on earth to operate, we have to learn to live in humility. There's no room for pride. We have to learn to identify those areas where pride has gotten in the way and confess them to God so He can free us from them. As we learn to live in humility with each other, we catch a glimpse of what God intended for us.