Have you heard the saying, “The bigger they are the harder they fall?” As a kid, I thought that saying meant it was hard to knock a big person down. As I grew older, I thought it meant a big person made a loud noise when they fell. I have come to realize it more naturally applies today to a person who is in a prominent position and falls from grace by doing something they shouldn’t. The fall out and commotion made over it can be tremendous.

            It is almost always pride and foolishness that causes the fall. First, pride in their own abilities leads to an exaggerated view of themselves. They are puffed up. They feel as though they are untouchable. They believe they are above the law. This leads to foolishness, doing something they know isn’t right. We can see this on our evening news almost every day.

            King Solomon tells us pride leads to disgrace. We see this proven over and over again as prominent public figures are disgraced by their foolish behavior. But it doesn’t only apply to those public figures. We, too, can quickly fall into disgrace when we become prideful. When we begin thinking we are better than someone else. It only takes one misstep to fall hard.

            Solomon then says wisdom is with the humble. It is those who are humble, those who do not think too highly of themselves, those who are continually learning and earnestly seeking who become wise. Humility does not mean we are a doormat. No, it means we submit to God’s will and his way of thinking. We ask him to provide for our needs and wisdom.

            When we believe we have arrived, that we are at the pinnacle, we have fallen prey to pride and foolishness. At that point, we are on the opposite side of the spectrum from humility. We stop learning. We stop seeking God’s wisdom. We think we know better than anyone else. We make the mistake of listening to our own press.

            On the other hand, humility reminds us that we can never know everything. We do not even know what tomorrow will bring. Only God knows. Therefore, in our humble state, we depend on God. In our dependence, we find a freedom that a prideful person can never understand. We no longer need to think we must control things. Instead, we trust that God is in control. What better person to be in control than the Creator of the universe?!

            Humbling ourselves before God relieves us of worry, anxiety, and fear. It opens our hearts and minds to see and hear God in our daily lives. Recognizing our experiences with him increases our faith. Our faith and love for God, along with our experiences, causes us to trust him more.

            We all wrestle with pride. The sooner we can set it aside and humble ourselves before God, the better we will be.

 

Proverbs 11:2: When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but wisdom is with the humble.