Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” James 4:6
“Why can’t my dog be as well behaved as yours? Look how he’s so focused on you! He’s such beautiful dog.” These are a few of the reactions I’ve received when having my pup out and about. At that point, I started to feel a little pride in our hard work because it was starting to pay off. Yeah, that pat on the back was kinda nice. We went by another dog that was out of control and causing a raucous, and my dog glanced over in a haughty demeanor as if saying, “You uncivilized beast.”
This is about the time when I shook myself out of dreamland and step into reality because I know that the next second I could be asking my dog why in the world he did what he did and ask what he was thinking. Dogs surely aren’t robots and they’re going to make mistakes, and I can pretty much guarantee it’ll be at the most inopportune time. It’ll also show our weakness as their owners. Let me tell you, it’s a great way to stay humble.
The character trait for today is Humility-acknowledging that achievement results from the investment of others in my life (definition from characterfirst.com).
To begin with, I can’t even take the credit for my dog’s behavior. Ok, it’s on me if I can’t control him, but all of his achievements are the results of others. We’ve gone through many classes and books on the subject of dog behavior that have taught us a tremendous amount.
When he is well behaved, God gets most of the credit. I just assume He’s answering the many hundreds of prayers I’ve sent His way to help my dog be calm, obedient, and stable…and not do anything stupid, please not to let him do anything stupid!
Actually, God connected us with someone that only could be His doing. It’s a long story, but we’ve had a brilliant trainer working with us for months now. He’s in a different country, but he’s only a phone call away! He’s patient, gives great advice, leads me to the right path, and never tires of my MANY questions. Well, maybe he does, but is kind enough not to show it. He’s walked me through really trying times and talked me down from complete hysteria in order to handle situations in a calm, controlled way.
So really, when the pup does well, I know it was from all the investment into his training from so many. It makes me nervous when I realize I’m starting to feel prideful of his behavior because I always learn a lesson on humility soon after.
Let me share something I found online by Lawrence Wilson:
Here are seven things you can do nearly every day to practice humility.
- Avoid taking credit. This goes beyond saying, “Aw shucks,” to deflect a compliment. Practice the discipline of secrecy by keeping one of your achievements from being known to others. That means not saying things like, “I fixed the copier, you can thank me later.”
- Praise others. Pride makes us envious or resentful of another’s talents. The surest way to break that is to compliment others. Don’t pass up an opportunity.
- Help others succeed. Few things attack the ego quite as much as helping others succeed. Pride hoards knowledge and resources; humility shares them.
- Admit your mistakes. Ugh. Nobody likes doing this, but the quicker you’re willing to say “I was wrong” the closer you are to humility.
- Learn from others. This is another way to appreciate the value of others. When you acknowledge that they have advanced beyond you, you humble yourself.
- Go last. At a restaurant, at family dinner, in line at Wal-Mart, let someone else go first. It’ll do you good.
- Serve someone. We instinctively resist serving because we believe there is a direct relationship between being served and being important. Jesus turned that idea on its head. Bring your spouse a cup of tea, run an errand for a friend, give away some money.
The only way to be humble is to be humbled. Though that is difficult to accept, you can do it. Andrew Murray wrote, “The danger of pride is greater and nearer than we think, and the grace for humility too.”
Today, celebrate in your successes, but remember all those who invested in your life for you to see the results you’re getting. Stay humble by practicing some of the advice from Lawrence Wilson!
