Pride and Humility

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:36-40

WIth 7 Sundays until Easter we decided to do a sermon series on “7 virtues and 7 Sins”. This past week I spoke on pride vs. humility. Pride is at the root of nearly all of our sins. It’s something we all struggle with, although it tends to manifest itself differently in each of us. It's easy to point out pride in the loud, boisterous, arrogant person who boasts about themselves and dominates conversation. But what about the person whose pride hides behind their insecurities. This person often retreats from any kind of social platform out of fear of how others perceive them. Both examples come from a preoccupation with self- Pride.
C.S. Lewis is credited with what I think is one of the greatest quotes on humility. He says, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less”. This posture of “self forgetfulness” is one that I pray God helps me embody. As we engage with people in our neighborhoods, homes, schools, churches, and places of work I pray the Holy Spirit would help us to forget about ourselves and genuinely say “God,please use me. I'm here first and foremost for you and then for others.”