Better Than

DEVOTION

PROVERBS

BETTER THAN

Prov 16:19

19 Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.

NIV

Another warning about being prideful is written here for us to learn from. It seems that those who are proud and haughty gain much personal plunder. Fame and fortune are the result for those who strive to be the very best at the world’s game of life. It also seems that many believers are among the oppressed because of having a lowly spirit, but there are also those who claim to be believers but play the game of life among the prideful. Can we have both? Can we be lowly of spirit and still have all the personal gain and share in the plunder? The proud are those value themselves and despise others, and their mind rises with their condition. They are among the people who put forth themselves, they trust, and shave, and scramble to be preferred. In Paul’s letter to Timothy they are charged not to be high-minded, but that may fall on deaf ears. We cannot afford to allow ourselves to think more of ourselves than we ought to, being aware all that we are, all that we have, and all that we do is because of God. Being lowly in spirit does not mean poor and without good things, but it does mean experiencing favor from God who desires to give us good things. But humility may bring certain contempt from those in the world who scratch and claw their way upward, it also brings us closer to God and prepares us for his glory. It also brings a sense of quiet and repose or rest within our spirit. It would seem those who are prideful make God their enemy and the devil their master.