When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. - Proverbs 11:2

Not long ago, I was standing in line at the airport. The service was not as fast as the two men in front of me would have liked, so they made their displeasure known to anyone within earshot. They felt they were important people and weren't used to this kind of shoddy treatment.

As I watched these men, I was reminded of some people mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. During Jeremiah's day, the Moabites were a proud and arrogant people who looked down from their location on a high plateau and thought themselves secure. Who would dare attack them? Who could be successful if they tried? They considered themselves the absolute masters of their fate.

I guess we all know people who consider themselves superior to others and demand that they be treated differently. The Bible clearly teaches that God hates pride, because it keeps people from depending on Him. Pride produces a false sense of security that tells a person he's doing just fine without God.

Listen to the Lord's surprising reaction to the proud people of Moab. In Jeremiah 48:31, the Lord said, "I wail over Moab, for all Moab I cry out." In spite of Moab's arrogance and insolence, God looked at her with tender compassion. In the final analysis, there is only one antidote for our pride, and that is the compassion of God. Yes, God hates pride, but He loves the people who are being destroyed by it.

None of us are immune to the spiritual disease of pride. When arrogance threatens to poison our lives, it is God's tender mercy and compassion that draws us to Him.

Prayer

Lord, help me to have regard for other people and to keep their welfare in mind as I struggle for my place in the world. Amen.

To Ponder

God shows me kindness, not punishment, to lead me to repentance and fellowship with Him.