How does one achieve the perfect balance between two opposing sides?
Side 1- We are told and taught that compared to God man is nothing. That we are just a speck in the universe in the whole scheme of things. We are told that the natural man is an enemy to God.
Side 2- We are told and taught that we are Children of God. That we are special. That we matter to Him and are loved by Him. That our souls are great in the sight of God. We are unique.
Then we are warned not to get too caught up in pride and to be humble and teachable.
So, my question or questions is this. How does one achieve the balance between these two sides? How does one feel good about themselves without coming off too prideful? How does one keep from going the opposite direction and feel like you are worthless?
Any thoughts?
11 comments:
On our own we are worthless sinful creatures but we are made in the image of God (with a soul). Through the bloodshed of Jesus, God sees us as righteou if we accept him as savior. It is not us but him - thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
I'm wondering the same thing.
Good questions, Karen. I guess we need to focus on loving Him first and then ourselves, remembering that we are reflections of His glory.
Which means we could never be worthless.
And should always be humble.
=)
Have you ever noticed the confidence of a child, yet they are so willing to be taught and continue to learn. I think that is why we are counseled to be as a "little child."
Karen, these are great and thought provoking questions. When the scriptures say 'O how great is the nothingness of the children of men...' They are not talking about our worth. For we ARE children of a supreme being, even God himself is our father. In Young Womens remember that we were taught we are of infinite worth?
When the scriptures say we are less than the dust, it is talking about our inability to become perfected without the Lord and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Without them, we are nothing, because we would cease to exist. Even the air we breath is provided by a loving Heavenly Father.
It is not prideful to know I am of a noble birthright and have confidence in who I am. Pride is when I feel I am better than someone else. When I forget that all men are created equal and put myself higher than others...this is pride and pride is offensive to God.
It's similar to my relationship with my teenagers...they are so valuable to me. I love them with every fiber of my being and would gladly give my life for them; but when they begin to think they don't have to be home on time or don't need to talk respectfully to their parents or show gratitude for all the things we've given them...then I feel like Bill Cosby when he said, "I brought you into this world and I can take you out!" LOL
Their value in my eyes has not changed, but they better remember their dependence on us as their parents for their food, clothing, house, schooling etc.
Hmmmm....good question! I think that is one of the biggest questions in life today since our society is so rush here, do this do that, you gotta fit this mold, blah, blah, blah...I work hard at not buying into all that!
Karen, we were just talking about this tonight at my writers group. We are nothing without Him. By ourselves, we can't do anything that we need to do, but with Him anything is possible. I think that no matter how you look at it, He is the only answer.
Yikes? Tough questions. I think I try to balance it out by remembering that God has made us all unique and we all count so we need to be open to each other. I tend to have to reign myself in when I start to think I have all the answers or think I know it better, to me that is Pride, and I can get carried away, I have to smack myself and say, "whoa, remember, you don't know it all and everyone has something to offer."
I agree....how do we balance without being prideful? I just know that without Him I'm nothing....and with Him I'm everything!!! There isn't any pride in that statement....other than being proud that HE chose me to be His child!!!
You're such a precious, special lady, Ms. Karen!!!
First of all thank you for stopping by, but as far as these questions of yours I don't believe there is any true answer except in what you yourself have faith in. I will say this I'm proud that I'm a human being of the Lord, and that I was made in his image & I'm proud that I don't feel that I was made with any evil intentions. He gave us a mind of our own to make our own decisions such as Adam & Eve when Eve bit into the apple she was still a creature of the Lord was she not & even though Adam did not bite the apple the Lord told them both to leave paradise???
Now that you've half way opened this can of worms let me finish opening it & ask you... I was raised as a Catholic & went to Catholic school & they taught us God is everywhere correct? 2 angels & 2 angels are 4 angels & Christopher Columbus was a Catholic, and that God is everywhere. A commandment: Thou shalt not bring false gods before me, and yet there are how many religions in the world? Which is the right one? Is it door No. 2 or 3? Most importantly the third commandment I believe is Remember the Lord's Day; Keep the sabath holy, so we must go to church or we'll rot in hell!!! BUT in the same breath God is everywhere! So if God is everywhere why can I not pray in my own home from my heart to my God? Oh no, don't get me started because I've got a few more for ya too! LOL
Dear friend may the Lord's angels watch over you this night and bring you the light that you seek.
Whenever I get stuck on theology, I think of lyrics from a Keith Green song: Just keep doing your best, pray that it's blessed, and let Jesus take care of the rest!
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