It seemed as if the guest preacher wanted to be sure we were all impressed with his credentials. In his message he informed us of his greatest accomplishments, and he told us that among his friends were a number of well-known, influential Christians.

Maybe you've heard church leaders make statements like this: "Numbers are not important to our church, but in the past 3 years we have grown 600 percent and increased our giving by 800 percent." Soon after they say they're not interested in numbers, they start tossing them around! It's a subtle way of bragging.

I can't be too critical, though. I've seen pride in my own life. I was standing by the literature table of a church when someone picked up a copy of Our Daily Bread. "Do you read that?" I asked. "I start every day with it," came the reply. "Well, I write for it," I heard myself say. Pride—ugh!

As servants of Christ, we should be known for humility. First Peter 5:5 tells us to "be clothed with humility, for 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'" We should be unpretentious, talk about other people's accomplishments, and focus on serving others.

Lord Jesus, please help us to guard our hearts against pride, and teach us to be humble.    — David C. Egner