Humility brings honor

Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, And before honor is humility. Proverbs 18:12

Humility and honor are directly related. The Hebrew word for honor means glory, abundance, and the Greek word honor means price, value, respect, and esteem. 

When someone brags and boasts about themselves often, it may be as a coping mechanism to deal with low self-esteem and insecurity issues as they seek constant dopamine hits from self promotion. 

People with damaged self-views tend to be haughty or critical, elevate themselves above others, and tear down others to feed their own ego. When people believe they are better than others, it is destructive, and the Bible warns us that pride before the fall. 

Knowing our value and identity in Christ is the cure for haughty spirit. As the word honor means price, and we are bought with a price in 1 Cor 6:20, it is imperative to see the value of ourselves and others. We are instructed to “honor (value) one another above yourselves” Romans 12:10

Second, acknowledge that God rewards and promotes us. Since there is the temptation to "feel" it is time to get promoted, we tend to speed up the process to promote ourselves, but God wants us to do all good deeds in secret, and God who sees in secret will reward us openly. It is therefore imperative that we stay on God's timeline and trust in His perfect plan for lasting honor and promotion.

As our pastor once asked another famous UK pastor this question: “Why does God use you so powerfully?”, the UK pastor replied, “Because I am nothing, I know nothing, and I have nothing.” Humility is a state of mind, like the CS Lewis quote: "Humility is not thinking less of oneself, but worrying less about oneself," and God will fulfil this principle, "whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Matthew 23:12

Blessing prayer: Help us to recognize our own value and those of others, so that we may always humble ourselves before you and give you glory for this is the ultimate value in our lives., In Jesus’ name, Amen