But He gives greater grace. Therefore, He says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.   James 4:6 HCSB

Grace is another word for favor. The first example of this is given in Genesis 6:8. God was looking at all the wickedness in the world and regretted having made man. But in verse 8 it says, “Noah, however, found favor in the sight of the LORD.” Because God found favor in Noah, He spared Noah and his family from the flood. He instructed Noah to build the ark and save his family and the animals.

This is a shining example of Ephesians 2:8 which says we are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift. God saved Noah by grace. Noah showed faith in God in building an ark when he had never seen rain but only a mist.

Today, we live in a world that is wicked. It’s all around us. We all need to be saved; we need God’s grace.

Our Scripture passage says God gives grace to the humble. Do you need God’s grace? Don’t we all need God’s grace? Then we should humble ourselves before Him. If our humility is a requirement for grace, then we have no choice but to humble ourselves before Him. Jesus said in Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”

For many years I thought when I bowed my head to pray, I was humbling myself before the Lord and it would suffice. It would take a few heartbreaks and some turmoil in my life to realize how wrong I had been. I had been living a prideful life. I had been wanting God to change others when it was me who needed to change. I needed to surrender and submit myself to Christ. I had learned that if I didn’t humble myself before Him that He would humble me himself. I have since learned that if I humble myself before God and others, He will exalt me. He will lift me up.

We all have enemies. The prideful part of us wants to make our enemies suffer. We feel they should suffer for what they have done to us. We appoint ourselves as judge, jury and executioner. Often times we do this without even realizing what we have done. We take it upon ourselves to point out their faults to others. We gossip and slander them for the wrongs they commit.

I have learned the hard way, however, when I humble myself and give it all over to God, He handles it way better. It’s not my job to give grace or to exact punishment on someone. That’s God’s job (Romans 12:19). My job is to be in God’s good graces. It’s my job to please God. Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith, it is impossible to please God. If we humble ourselves before God and trust Him to deal with our enemies, we are exhibiting great faith. When we take matters into our own hands, we are being prideful. We are told in Proverbs 16:18 that pride comes before destruction and an arrogant spirit before a fall.

I don’t know about you, but I have realized that I need God’s grace more and more every day. I need to find favor with Him. I need for Him to not resist me. In order to do so I know I must humble myself before Him and others. I have learned to stop putting down on others to lift myself up. I have learned to have compassion on those less fortunate than myself. That’s my job. My job is to live as Christ has instructed me to live. This means that I must truly forgive those who have hurt me. I have to let it go and give it all over to God. When I let it go, I don’t dwell on it. I don’t constantly talk about it, I let it go.

My friend we all need God’s grace. Remember back in Noah’s days, those who didn’t have God’s grace were destroyed in the flood. Humble yourselves before God and before men. James 4:10 tells us to humble ourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you. It’s not our job to lift ourselves up, that’s God’s job. But He won’t do it if we are prideful because He hates pride.

When we are critical of others, we are judging them. James 4:11 says this makes us a judge of the law and not a doer of the law. My prayer for you today is that you will humble yourself and receive God’s grace. We all need God’s grace.

Have a great day!