Pride or Humility

Did I tell you a while back that I was reading about pride in a devotional? The writer suggested spending one month in concentrated prayer asking God to expose and remove every kind, form, and degree of pride from your heart whether from evil spirits or your own corrupt nature. Then ask God to awaken in you the deepest depth and truth of that humility which can make you capable of His life and Spirit. Serious stuff and you better mean it. The revelation of pride is painful and humbling...but that's the point. Humility is the root of repentance and salvation just as pride is the root of sin. It is so subtle and deceptive that we can be born again, living for Christ, and still be full of pride. When that is the case our victories are few and fleeting, and we feel a chasm in our soul...a gulf between what we believe with all our hearts and what we live in reality. The clincher is that humility must be our position, not only with God, but with every human relationship and encounter we have, as well. We MUST be the servant of ALL. That's hard stuff in ourselves...not easy to hear, and impossible to perform. Therefore, we are helpless, which is the only condition in which God can finally become our ALL.
Are we brave enough to believe that God means what He says? He tells us to lose our lives (our pride and glory) in order to save them. When we put ourselves in His hands and trust Him, seeking His glory over any given to us by man, He will keep His word and every promise He has made.