God doesn’t want us to brag and claim full credit for talents and successes. Yet our world pushes people to claim all credit for their accomplishments and then to claim superiority over others.
The most ancient Scriptures (such as Deuteronomy chapter 8) refute this foolish arrogance. I was so impressed with the contrast of Scripture versus the world’s arrogance when I read this wonderful chapter. This elitism or arrogant claim that we caused our successes alone and we created our gifts and talents contradicts God’s words, especially in this chapter. Look at this verse Deut. 8:2-3, “Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for those forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
God humbled the Israelites by providing for them when they had no other ability to provide for themselves in the desert. They couldn’t farm or fish, so God provided manna and quail. God clearly confirmed that this forced the Israelites to rely on his Word and Promises. As a result the Israelites had no chance to brag. They knew they needed God. They had to thank him, every day (not that they did not complain—just no bragging.)
This was a form of God’s discipline. Often God uses hard times to discipline and refine us (Deut.8:5, “Think of it, even as a parent disciplines a child, so the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good.”) If we let God humble us, we become obedient and joyful even during those hard times. Then comes verse 7, which sounds like a blessing, “For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land of flowing streams and pools of water, with fountains and springs that gush out in the valleys and hills.” Yet that verse is also a warning as confirmed by verses 10-11, “When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today.” Claiming we created our own successes and wealth is also thankless. The 14th verse reflects our secular world’s attitude: “Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt.” So many highly successful people believe they alone caused their success. They do not thank and praise God for the many gifts he gave them. They speak the very words (lies) found in verse 17b, “”I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.”
Yet God denies this human arrogance and says in verse 18, “Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.” God gives us all of his gifts to use for his glory. Yet the “famed celebrities” and wealthy moguls use their gifts for themselves and claim all the glory.
This is more than arrogance; it is an unthankful attitude. Sadly arrogant people mistake God’s patience for tolerance of their sin. Luke 6:35b says, “God is kind to the unthankful and evil.” Because God continues to be kind to these people, they think they can get away forever with this thankless and arrogant behavior. Because God has not punished the evil as he promised, some think God is slow. But let the look at 2Peter3:9, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promises as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but wanting everyone to come to repentance.”
Well, this covers the aspect of having a thankful heart and acknowledging that God gave us our gifts. But lest we worry we will become thankless if we are in a season of financial success, I want to re-visit those verses in Deuteronomy. Remember that God said he humbled the Israelites by forcing them to depend on him for manna while they could not supply any of their own food. We can have that attitude, even now while we can work and provide our own food. Yes, God warned the Israelites they would become self sufficient and then be tempted to fall into arrogance. Yes, we could fall that way too. But if we can humble our own hearts and acknowledge we really CANNOT provide for ourselves, we really do rely on God for everything, then we will not fall. We have to see that without God’s help, our hearts would stop beating; our lungs would stop pulling in air. We would die. So we can use our minds and submit them to God’s will by realizing we are actually still as dependent on God as the wandering Israelites. We can take all of our thoughts captive (2Cor.2:5) and then we can force them to admit we are helpless without God. Then we will not fall into this arrogance and thanklessness the Israelites fell into (with idol worship in the Promised Land) and that which the secular world’s “celebrities” fall into. God can keep us close to him, safely protected from pride and unthankfulness. The blessings and curses in Deuteronomy can warn us but need not scare us.
These warnings and blessings are there to bring us hope and to keep us close to God. He is good all the time.
I pray we have blessed you with this simple post. I am really enjoying reading my Bible using the technique I learned from Pastor Charles Stanley. I am prayer-journaling about some of the verses I read each morning, and I am amazed by how many truths God reveals to me when I take the time to really analyze what I read. God is so kind!
Thanks for joining us in this post.