Serve Others
A recipe for proper humility (with just a dash of pride)
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For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
2 Corinthians 4:5 (ESV)
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Nearly everyone knows that pride is a deadly sin.
One of the seven classically deadly sins (though that comes from classical history and not necessarily the Bible).
I want to point out that this verse is not squashing down pride & ego for the sake of destroying pride & ego. There is a purpose — a divine purpose — to this kind of humility.
Here, Paul is pointing out that he’s acting in humble service for the sake of Christ.
It’s actually very foolish to merely be humble for the sake of humility.
That’s a recipe for getting walked all over by, let’s say, more sinister people.
There are, in fact, times to boast …
As long as we are boasting in God.
The tension in that kind of life is one of being proud towards God and humble towards myself. Which is not only difficult to think about, but difficult to do.
At least, I haven’t figured out the trick to doing that consistently.
Anyway, yes, we need to be a people who walk humbly with God.
Moses was said to be the most humble man (I seriously doubt he wrote that part himself in Numbers 12). He set an example that we would do well to follow. And he did most of his work with God very late in life.
So, to wrap this up, have a humble servant attitude as long as the purpose is in service to Christ.
Anything else could be feeding your own ego; reader beware.
— Ricky Ketchum
Copyright © 2025 by Ricky Ketchum. All rights reserved. Unauthorized duplication prohibited.
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