A Downhill Slope
HUMILITY IS RIGHT BECAUSE GOD IN CHRIST HUMBLED HIMSELF.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read Philippians 2:3-11.
Verse of the Day: “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).
“I can ski better than you can!” Curtis boasted to his older sister, Amanda. He stood at the top of the intermediate slope. “I’ll beat you to the bottom.”
Amanda made a slight noise of disapproval and rolled her eyes at her brother. “Everything is not a competition, Curtis.”
“Ha, ha!” Curtis cackled. “You know you’re going to lose!”
“I can’t lose,” she answered, “because I’m not even racing.”
“Ready?” Curtis said. “Go!”
Curtis took off down the slope. Even though Amanda hadn’t intended to race him, she launched herself just a second after her brother said the word. As she started downhill, she became more and more determined to pass her brother and beat him to the bottom of the slope.
Amanda sped faster and faster and kept her eyes on Curtis, who turned every once in a while to see his sister skiing close behind. Soon, however, Amanda’s eyes opened wide with apprehension. She saw two skiers ahead of Curtis who had stopped along the way to talk, and she knew immediately what was going to happen. She knew that Curtis would not give the stopped skiers the three to five-foot margin that was considered common courtesy. She watched in horror as Curtis skied too close to the pair.
Amanda arrived just a couple of seconds after Curtis had tumbled into the couple, sending all three of them to the ground in a heap. “Are you all right?” she asked. She was relieved to see that the strangers were laughing, but she still glared at her brother as she helped him back to his feet.
The other skiers helped each other up. “I sure saw that one coming,” one said to his partner.
The other man turned to Curtis. “You need to be a little more careful on the slopes, Son.”
Curtis nodded, his expression showing his embarrassment. He apologized to the men, and he and Amanda continued their descent down the slope … slowly. “I sure made an impression on those guys,” Curtis said sheepishly. “Yeah … the wrong impression!” Amanda said. “I’m sorry, Sis,” Curtis said. “I guess I was a little cocky.” “A little?” Amanda teased. “And I guess Mount Everest is a little hill, right?”
TO DISCUSS: What was wrong with Curtis’s behavior? Why is pride and boasting wrong, and humility right? (HINT: Check today’s Bible reading.) Did Curtis’s boasting have good or bad results? Do you ever act like Curtis? Why or why not?
TO PRAY: “Lord Jesus, thank you for humbling yourself to die for our sins. Help us to remember your example when we’re tempted to be prideful.”