Back when I was still new to the Scriptures, I had a hard time understanding why God did not want us to be proud when I came across verses such as Proverbs 16:5. Part of the reason I had a hard time understanding this is because I had been insecure throughout most of my life. I did not realize this at the time, but pride was my problem even while I was insecure. That may sound crazy to some, but I believe that pride had to be my problem since it lead me to what the Bible calls "the sorrow of the world [which] produces death” (2 Corinthians 7:10) rather than godly sorrow which leads to repentance. Even during times when I was suicidal, I believe that pride was my problem. Once again, that may sound crazy to some, but what else can it be since suicide is not God's will, and is the result of worldly sorrow rather than godly sorrow? After all, pride is the main thing that separates us from God (See James 4:6).

Many people today would call the insecurity that I had "low self-esteem", yet the very fact that anyone would want to build security in themselves rather than God just shows that they are already esteeming themselves too much. What we need is not self-esteem, but God-esteem - and these are two positions that are in stark contrast to each other. Once we have given up trying to build up confidence in ourselves for a life that holds God in high esteem, it is then that "the LORD will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from being caught" (Proverbs 3:26).

If we do come to the point of surrender, it is because God Himself has accomplished the surrender in us, and we therefore have far more reason to esteem Him than ourselves. This was clearly the understanding that Paul had when He wrote, "by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10). So rather than focusing on ourselves, getting an accurate view of God is what will motivate us to surrender more than anything else. Although there was a time when I did not understand why the Bible took issue with pride, God had revealed to me enough about Himself during my early Christian life to let me know that He knows something about this issue that I did not. So I trusted Him based on the fact that He is wiser than I am, which brings to mind the words of the following verse....

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil" (Proverbs 3:5-7).

One of the problems with pride, or being wise in our own eyes, is that it is deceitful (See Obadiah 1:3 as an example). In fact, our pride can be so deceitful that it blinds us from seeing that it is our real motive rather than humility sometimes. David must have understood the deceitfulness of the human heart when he wrote, "search me, O God, and know my heart....see if there is any wicked way in me" (Psalm 139:23-24). And Paul wrote, "now we see in a mirror dimly" (1 Corinthians 13:12), which indicates that we will always have need of the Lord searching our hearts as long as we on this earth.

My motivation to surrender (which I believe was accomplished by God Himself) came from the realization that God knows and wants what is best for me (See Jeremiah 29:11) even if it does not appeal to my deceitful human nature. Human pride is not only deceitful, but it is also vain (as revealed by Proverbs 25:27 and Proverbs 13:10). So it is not as if God has given us hard to follow rules to ruin our joy, but the point is that He wants to give us Himself, and thereby give us an eternal joy far greater than the vain, temporary joy that we may have in our pride. And understanding that Christ could return at any moment is one more powerful motivation to surrender, as revealed by this last passage that I will leave you with....

"Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure" (1 John 3:2-3).