Tamara and I used to take our summer vacations in New Hampshire.We would camp next to the Saco River in North Conway and would take morning hikes up the White Mountains.
On one of our hiking trips, the fable of the Tortoise and the Hare came to my mind for some reason.The morale is “Haste Makes Waste.”I guess I was thinking about it, because we needed to pace ourselves going up and down those steep inclines.I soon realized that ole Aesop had gotten the morale of the story all wrong.It isn’t “Haste Makes Waste” but “Pride and Arrogance Will Make You Lose the Race.”
The issue was not the hare running the race too fast – if he had continued at the same speed, he would have easily won against the tortoise.His problem was arrogance and pride.He thought he was so much better than the tortoise.The hare prided himself on being able to beat his opponent handedly.And he should have, given that the hare was miles ahead before the tortoise could get out of the blocks.However, arrogance and pride got the better of the hare.He saw his lead, and he stopped to take a nap just feet from the finish line.The tortoise gained ground and silently slipped past the hare.As we know from the fable, the hare lost the race.
Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”Sound like the hare?Proverbs 29:23 says, “A [person’s] pride brings him or her low, but a [person] of lowly spirit gains honor.”The best cure for pride and arrogance is a good dose of humility.It is bred within a person, who realizes that all good things come from God and not by his or her hand.Humility reminds a person that his or her talents are not to be used for self-gain but for the service and glory of Jesus Christ.A person who is lowly in spirit places people and God first, and if any rewards and honor come, he or she receives them graciously, not striving to get more attention from others.
There was a song I used to sing as a teenager in my youth group.It went, “Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord – ‘humble thyself in the sight of the Lord’ was the echo – humble thyself in the sight of the Lord; and he shall lift you up, higher and higher, and he shall lift you up.”The lower we make ourselves, the higher God will raise us.If we take on the attitude of a servant just as Jesus did (cf. Philippians 2:5-11), we will find ourselves doing mighty things for our church, family, and community.The Holy Spirit’s power will flow through us and touch people around us.
Whether we are climbing mountains, running races, helping somebody with chores, feeding the poor, or worshipping our God, humility gives us a fighting chance to win.
