Pride & Giving God the Glory

After professing my intention to post regularly on here, it has now already been far too long since my previous post, so I suppose I start already on a note of being humbled. (Insert the usual myriad of excuses - life, parenting, priorities etc.) Of course the point of these posts isn't for me to look great and put together, so it's only fitting.

 

"On an appointed day Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last."

Acts 12:21-23, ESV (via Bible Gateway) 

Recently (now some time ago, as this one has been in drafts for a while!), we read Acts chapter 12, and something about the demise of Herod struck me.

God smote him down, but that is not suprising in itself. Herod was a man who, we can probably all agree, deserved to die for so many evil things. At the very start of the chapter he kills James, then he arrests Peter to put him to death too. We would think that surely persecution of God's people warrants punishment.

But verse 23 seems to tell us that God punished Herod with a painful, humiliating death because of his pride. 

I wanted to be sure I wasn't reading into this in assuming it was about pride, so I read over Calvin's commentary on this chapter to see what he thought - turns out he has a extensive section in his commentary on the connection between pride and stealing glory from God.

"The more anyone exalts himself in arrogance, the more does he deserve to be cast down with ignominy by God to the lowest depths."

"Although [the proud person] may not usurp the title of God, and may not openly make boastful statements that they are gods, yet because they appropriate to themselves what belongs to God, they desire to be gods..."

(references from: pg . 347-349, Calvin's Commentaries: The Acts of the Apostles Vol. I, trans. J W Fraser and W J G McDonald, ed. D W Torrance and T F Torrance, Wm. B. Erdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan)

His suggested remedy is for everyone to remain in the station in which God has put him - acknowledging that our position in life is given to us by God. He also reminds us that giving God half the glory is still the same as not giving him all the glory. 

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It is worth also noting the end of this story, as God turns Herod's glory-thieving back on him. Verse 24 tells us "But the word of God increased and multiplied."

We can attempt to steal glory from God, but that does not thwart His plans.

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In a practical application on the topic of pride, I kept thinking of a book that I read and re-read last year (first over Audible, and since on Kindle - available in all formats on Amazon) - "Humility" by C J Mahaney. This book has been very influential for me, it can life-changing if you let it be! 

C J breaks down pride vs humility, and includes lots of practical steps to stamp out pride and cultivate humility (simple things like doing things you are bad at to keep you humble, and recognising evidence of God's grace in others, rather than being critical of them). 

The essence of a lot of what he says is that we need to remember our own dependence on God, and our sin and salvation, and consciously transfer all glory to God. If you get a chance to read it, I highly recommend it!

Two simple practical takeaways from that book:

1. Start every day acknowledging your dependence upon God.
2. Conclude every day by transferring all glory to Him. (This doesn't mean the glory is ours to give; rather that we don't take any of it for ourselves and give it to Him as is due to Him)

When I am diligent in remembering them, these steps have been very helpful for me.

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Thanks for reading!

Suggestions for prayer:

• Adoration: Praise God  and give him the glory he deserves!
• Confession: Confess where we have stolen his glory for ourselves, internally or externally
• Thanksgiving: Thank God for his grace in us and others, and his Spirit who works in us to give him glory
• Supplication: Ask God for help in quashing our pride and cultivating humility, and ask for simple ways God can show us to work on that