Give Yourself Up

David’s rock of truth hit Goliath really hard, so hard that it killed him. In a glaringly obvious way, God showed how much He treasures humility. A meek shepherd armed with a simple weapon delivered a message equally as simple but profound: “Pride goes before a disaster, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18 NAB)

The David vs. Goliath story is one of countless examples of how God favors the weak over the strong, the humble over the prideful. The ultimate example is the Incarnation itself. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords comes into the world through a human without accolades, wealth and celebrity.

As another Lenten season approaches, we are gifted with the opportunity to remember the humility of our Lord, His earthly journey and His sacrifice. We are reminded that as God has given to us, we must give ourselves back to Him and to each other.

Lent shouldn’t be just a time when we give something material up. That’s pretty easy. So what if you give up chocolate for 6 weeks? You’ll make up for it when you ravage your Easter basket. Jesus gave His life – HIS LIFE – for us!! Surely, we can do better than merely giving up a simple habit or vice. We should strive to do something harder that makes it a real sacrifice, and it should be something we incorporate into our lives beyond the Lenten season. About what am I talking? Pride. We need to give pride up. We need to give ourselves up.

Humility is the hardest virtue to attain because pride is extremely difficult to overcome. If you think about it, pride is the root of all sin. Original sin and our concupiscence program us to put our needs first. But, once you have died to yourself and set aside your needs to serve God, you will have gained true humility and all the other virtues will fall into place.

Why do we need to give ourselves up? That answer is simple – because God has given to us. He’s given us life. He’s given us every single thing contrary to what we may fool ourselves into believing. Everything – good and bad – God has allowed us to experience. There is no such thing as a self-made man and there is no “I” in team. The good that can be done if we extend ourselves beyond our own wants and needs is immeasurable.

Puffed-up souls don’t stay inflated for long. God has His ways of knocking people down. God is not cruel, but like any loving parent, He knows how to discipline and do what is ultimately in our best interest. Being prideful turns you away from Him and that is not in our best interest, so God will find a way to return you to Him.

As an example, let me share a little bit about how my blimp of a soul went down like the Hindenburg recently. Shortly before Christmas, God humbled me in a place that hurt deeply – my writing – because He knew I wasn’t using it to serve Him but myself. I won’t get into the details of the incident because it still stings, which tells me I haven’t fully accepted His correction. I will say, however, that it kept me from writing anything for weeks. I thought the particular work in question would impress. It didn’t and the person I hurt in the process rightly told me so.

As a result, I re-examined my motives for my writing and everything else I do. For whom am I doing this? Is it for me or for God? When I say I don’t want attention, credit or reward, am I being truthful? You may find, like I did, that the answers make you painfully aware of how selfish and prideful you are.

So, this Lent, dig deep, deeper than you ever have and pray about how you’d truly like to get closer to God. Will it be through giving up an hour of sleep, forgoing that morning coffee or avoiding that certain sweet? If you settle for that, I think you’re cheating yourself out of the greater reward of humility. Pray that God gives you the strength to give yourself up. Die with Jesus for God’s greater glory.