When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. (Proverbs 11:2)
“Well, my god would never…”
“My god always…”
Do you have a god? I don’t. At least not in the sense that I have authority over how he/she/it behaves. I know people who have gods. Their gods would never do this, or never do that, and always do something else. And it always seems that their gods do exactly what the people who have them approve. I suppose that’s why they think that I am projecting my choices onto God. The truth of the matter is that if you have a god, then you are the god of that god. I don’t have any interest in what your god or my god might do or say because such a god is too small and too weak to be considered a god.
The God of the Bible is not like that. He designed the universe and us without consulting us. He created the same without consulting us. The rules by which it operates were his choice and he didn’t ask us whether we think gravity should be where it is, or whether food should have calories. He didn’t take a survey on what should or should not be considered a sin.
People seem to think that I’m grossly pig-headed, intolerant, and a whole bunch of other stuff because I don’t agree with them. It’s always interesting that I’m the pig-headed, intolerant one, and they’re the wonderful, kind, compassionate one, even when they don’t agree with me. I guess that process only works in one direction. That’s why the term bigot is worthless. Those who accuse me of being a bigot are practicing bigotry. Furthermore, it would be rather stupid for me to hold that my beliefs and opinions are inferior to yours because if I believed there were inferior, I would change to the superior. And very likely, so would you. It is entirely reasonable to hold the beliefs and opinions one thinks is the best and closest to reality. Calling someone a bigot is basically telling them that they should believe what seems to them to be a worse set of beliefs so that you feel better.
But here’s the real challenge. It doesn’t matter what I think, or what my (petty) god thinks. As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter what you or your petty god thinks. What matters is what God thinks, and what He has revealed in Scripture. Want me to change my mind? Show me in scripture where God says that the behavior you want me to approve is acceptable to Him. Because it’s really not about me or my god. That would be pride and would lead to disgrace. It’s about what God says.
Humility is accepting your limitations. Wisdom is understanding and working within reality, which repeatedly involves accepting your limitations. It’s not about your god or mine. It’s about being God’s.
“My god always…”
Do you have a god? I don’t. At least not in the sense that I have authority over how he/she/it behaves. I know people who have gods. Their gods would never do this, or never do that, and always do something else. And it always seems that their gods do exactly what the people who have them approve. I suppose that’s why they think that I am projecting my choices onto God. The truth of the matter is that if you have a god, then you are the god of that god. I don’t have any interest in what your god or my god might do or say because such a god is too small and too weak to be considered a god.
The God of the Bible is not like that. He designed the universe and us without consulting us. He created the same without consulting us. The rules by which it operates were his choice and he didn’t ask us whether we think gravity should be where it is, or whether food should have calories. He didn’t take a survey on what should or should not be considered a sin.
People seem to think that I’m grossly pig-headed, intolerant, and a whole bunch of other stuff because I don’t agree with them. It’s always interesting that I’m the pig-headed, intolerant one, and they’re the wonderful, kind, compassionate one, even when they don’t agree with me. I guess that process only works in one direction. That’s why the term bigot is worthless. Those who accuse me of being a bigot are practicing bigotry. Furthermore, it would be rather stupid for me to hold that my beliefs and opinions are inferior to yours because if I believed there were inferior, I would change to the superior. And very likely, so would you. It is entirely reasonable to hold the beliefs and opinions one thinks is the best and closest to reality. Calling someone a bigot is basically telling them that they should believe what seems to them to be a worse set of beliefs so that you feel better.
But here’s the real challenge. It doesn’t matter what I think, or what my (petty) god thinks. As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t matter what you or your petty god thinks. What matters is what God thinks, and what He has revealed in Scripture. Want me to change my mind? Show me in scripture where God says that the behavior you want me to approve is acceptable to Him. Because it’s really not about me or my god. That would be pride and would lead to disgrace. It’s about what God says.
Humility is accepting your limitations. Wisdom is understanding and working within reality, which repeatedly involves accepting your limitations. It’s not about your god or mine. It’s about being God’s.
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