May 7

The words of Isaiah 2:11, “The proud looks of man shall be brought low and the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day,” are sobering. We want to be proud of ourselves. We have been encouraged from our earliest childhood to make others proud of us.

These words seem to turn our pride on its head. These words convey the Lord’s total distain for our self esteem. Indeed, we live in an age where we esteem our perception of ourselves far more than we value our actual accomplishments! We want to be highly regarded, but we lack the initiative to pursue worthy goals.

We instill this false sense of “I’m OK, you’re OK” into our youth when we accord them a sense of self worth apart from accomplishment that produces form rather than substance when it comes to not only achievement but also to character. We elevate the shallow and superficial while relegating the essence of true worth to the ash heap.

The Word tells us that unless our sense of value is rooted in our knowledge of Christ, it is worthless. When we elevate ourselves for any reason other than to be lifted from the shame and deceit of sin to the devotion to Christ that makes us His co-heirs to eternity we are on a downward slide that will leave us broken and humbled before His glory.