“‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Therefore submit to God.”
—James 4:6–7 NKJV
I read an interesting article about how narcissistic our culture is today. It said, “A new analysis of the American Freshman Survey, which has accumulated data for the past 47 years from 9 million young adults, reveals that college students are more likely than ever to call themselves gifted and driven to succeed, even though their test scores and time spent studying are decreasing.*
The article went on to talk about how because of Facebook and Twitter, everyone can act like they are a rock star. They can live in the fantasy world of video games as an Olympian or sharpshooter.
But then there are those who have a realistic assessment of themselves, and here is some good news: God can do amazing things through those people. In fact, God goes out of His way to find people like that—people who see their shortcomings, but also the greatness of God.
When Simon Peter saw himself in light of God’s greatness, he told Jesus, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8). In other words, “Don’t waste your time on me Lord. I will only let you down!”
The people God uses are not proud and arrogant, but see themselves for what they are.
This gives hope to all the people out there who are not extraordinary, but ordinary.
• Those who are not necessarily the best students, class president, or on the homecoming team.
• Those who are not the first chosen for the team, but the last.
• Those who have not made the cover of People magazine’s “World’s Most Beautiful People.”
If we humble ourselves, examine our gifts and abilities realistically, and then hand them over to God to use as He pleases, God can and will use us for His glory.
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10 NKJV).
*Albow, Keith. “We Are Raising a Generation of Deluded Narcissists.” Published 1/8/2013. Foxnews.com
