You may be proud of yourself today. The world would tell you to be, even encouraging you to improve your self-esteem. You’re instructed to grow in your Christian walk, so should you be proud of progress you’ve made?
In Isaiah 10, we read the boasts of Assyria’s king: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I remove the boundaries of peoples, and plunder their treasures; like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones. My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken, so I have gathered all the earth”(vv. 13-14). He was completely full of himself. Isaiah’s response in verse 15 reads, “Shall the ax boast over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!” Then Isaiah prophesies disease and destruction from God on the king’s people and land. No rogue ax head or victorious saw blade would be able to take the credit for God’s demolition of the king’s forests, but it would be devastating: “The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few that a child can write them down”(Isaiah 10:19).
We have value because we are made in the image of God and because God loves us, every one of us. That’s actually pretty special. Allowing God to use us to glorify himself gives our lives their greatest worth. When we become proud of what we have accomplished, however, even if what we think we have accomplished is good, we have become as foolish as an ax which thinks it’s more important than the lumberjack or a saw which views itself as master of the carpenter.
Consider the areas in your life of which you’re proud: academics, athletics, appearance, reputation, thoughtfulness, sense of humor, sense of fashion, overall coolness, musical skills, speaking ability, artistic ability, language mastery, financial stability. All these areas are strengths in your life only if God has worked in you and your life to make them so. You may argue that you have labored hard to become an expert in an area and have a right to be proud of the result, but who created your brain and your body? Who placed you in your life situations? Who governed the opportunities that would come your way? If your circumstances were different, if certain options hadn’t been in your life, would you have accomplished the same? King Solomon, wiser and richer and more famous than you’ll ever be, repeatedly praised humility, condemned arrogance, and warned of the dangers of pride: “’I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion. The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate’”(Proverbs 8:12-13). In his list of 7 things the LORD hates, “haughty eyes”(Proverbs 6:16-17) is listed first. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall”(Proverbs 16:18). “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom”(Proverbs 11:2).
Resist the temptation to mimic the ridiculous image of a bragging ax head or a boasting stick of wood. Recognize the true source of your value, and who knows what God will be able to do through you.