Bible Reading: Ephesians 4:1-3
Be humble and gentle. Ephesians 4:2
A LOT OF people confuse the commands of the Bible with other sayings and quotations that aren’t in the Bible. For example, a lot of people think the phrase “Cleanliness is next to godliness” is found in the Bible. But it’s not.
See if you can identify which of the commands or phrases below are really found in the Bible. Place a check mark next to those phrases you think are from the Bible. (If you’re not sure, you can use a Bible concordance before looking at the answers.)
1. “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”
2. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”
3. “If anything can go wrong, it will.”
4. “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”
5. “Pride goeth before a fall.”
6. “Do not be arrogant, but be afraid.”
7. “I love you, you love me, we’re a happy family.”
8. “Don’t make much ado about nothing.”
9. “Look before you leap.”
10. “Be humble and gentle.”
Well, was it too easy? Too hard? Or did you already look at the answers? You probably figured out that number one is actually a quote from William Shakespeare’s famous play Hamlet. Number three is known as Murphy’s Law. Number four is a phrase uttered by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Number seven is a song Barney the dinosaur made famous. And numbers eight and nine are familiar proverbs that date back as far as ancient Greece. The others (2, 5, 6, 10) are Bible verses.
More important, the Bible verses that were included in the list above make it clear that God commands us to be humble, not proud.
It’s good advice to “look before you leap” and not to “make much ado about nothing.” But it’s far more important to obey God’s commands to be humble.
REFLECT: Do you ever brag or act as if you are better than someone else? Do you ever act prideful or conceited about anything? How do you know that humility is good and pridefulness is bad? Do you obey God’s command to be humble
(a) none of the time?
(b) some of the time?
(c) most of the time?
(d) all the time?
PRAY: “God, your commands tell me that it’s right to be humble. Thank you for the way your commands help me to know right from wrong. Thank you for the way your Spirit lives in my heart and helps me choose right instead of wrong.”
