CHOOSING HUMILITY OVER PRIDE

“For who considers you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”  (1 Corinthians 4:7 NASB)

Former Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey tells the story of a humbling visit to a restaurant. The waiter brought over the rolls, but no butter. “May I have some butter, please?” Bradley asked.

The waiter gave a slight nod and wandered off, but ten minutes later, no butter. Bradley caught the waiter’s eye. “May I please have some butter?” The waiter barely acknowledged the request. After ten more minutes, still no butter.

“Maybe you don’t know who I am,” said Bradley. “I’m a Princeton graduate, a Rhodes scholar, and an All-American basketball player who played for the New York Knicks in the pros. I’m currently a United States senator from New Jersey, chairman of the International Debt Subcommittee of the Senate Finance Committee, chairman of the Water and Power Subcommittee of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and a member of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee.”

“Maybe you don’t know who I am,” said the waiter. “I’m the guy who’s in charge of the butter.”

What happened after that is unknown, but occasionally we all need to have someone burst our balloon of self-importance and bring us back to reality. Such experiences are healthy because they help us maintain a proper perspective about our accomplishments. Pride is an attitude that causes us to credit ourselves for our accomplishments and to blame others for our failures. On the other hand, humility is an attitude that views both our accomplishments and our failures from God’s perspective.

“God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  (James 4:6b NASB)  

-- Robert Jefferies in “Choose Your Attitude, Change Your Life”

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