2021 Daily Devotion - Day 301

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"Humility isn't denying your strengths; it's being honest about your weaknesses."
- Pastor Rick Warren

Living in South Orange County, California, we often encounter some extremely successful people. They might have developed a very large and flourishing business or have amassed a great fortune. Maybe they have more than one PhD. And because they are so smart and successful, they are often filled with pride and arrogance. It is difficult for them to listen to others, because they believe they know better than anyone else. As a result, this arrogance causes them nothing but problems. It damages every relationship they have, and then actually wonder why.

But if we could begin by being honest about our weaknesses, and even have the ability to say it out loud to certain select and safe people, we would begin to turn the corner in some of the challenges we face in relationships with others. This is what Jesus was talking about in the Gospel of Luke:

Luke 14:11 ESV
“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Pray with me:
Gracious God, because of our broken condition, we are prone to pride and arrogance. Thinking we are so accomplished often prevents us from being honest about our weaknesses, and our pride pushes others away. Help us to admit to our true condition, and to even acknowledge You are the author of any success we might have. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Yours because of Him,
Pastor John R. Steward
Senior Pastor
Mount of Olives Church
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