No tags yet.
I think we would all agree that beauty is a good thing. We love beautiful things and we love to feel beautiful. I think we would all also agree that wealth is a pretty good thing. I have been dirt poor, where it was hard to even have enough money to eat. I can say with all assurance that being able to pay your bills, eat, and have money left over to enjoy life with your family is a much better place to be!
The only thing we need to watch out for when we think about our beauty, our wealth, or our success is that we are still able to maintain humility no matter what stage of life we find ourselves in. There are a few verses in Ezekiel 28 that describe someone who was beautiful and blessed:
By your great wisdom you have increased your riches and power, and your heart is proud and lifted up because of your wealth;
Your heart was proud and lifted up because of your beauty; Your wisdom was corrupted by your love of splendor. So I threw you to the ground and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings.
God had no problem with the beauty – He was the one who created the beauty! God had no problem with the wealth – it was God’s gift of wisdom that empowered the gaining of the wealth.
The problem was that because of the wealth and success, pride crept into the heart and lifted up the arrogance of the one with the abundance. It is God that gives us the power to produce wealth, so any fortune we acquire is only by the grace of what He has bestowed upon us. It is sheer foolishness to look at an increased check or bank account and feel pride. If anything, we should feel humbled by the responsibility we have to be good stewards of it.
When we start thinking we are all that, it is a dangerous place to be. The Bible says in James 4:6 - "God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." If we have beauty, it is only because God has given us beauty and hopefully we can use it in a way that points people to Him. If we have been given success in our work, it is only because God has given us the grace to have accomplishments. We can thank Him for it by using our resources to honor Him.
I in myself am nothing that great or special. There are numerous people more qualified than me, smarter than me, more beautiful than me. BUT, I feel wonderful about my good qualities because all of my good qualities come from God! My nature is me first and selfish, but I feel good that I am a kind, giving person because I know that is the Holy Spirit working through me. I am not proud of my talents, but I am thankful for the power of God working through those talents for Him. If I am a thoughtful spouse, parent, or friend, I feel good about it because it is God working through me.
I am not good, but He is. I walk with my head held high not because I am such a great person, but because of all that God can do through me as I humbly lift Him up in my life. I like myself because of the good that God places in me with His Spirit. I know that any area in my life that needs to get better, God will develop and complete in me.
Scholars believe that the verses above, about the beautiful and wealthy person, were actually written about Satan. When we stop thanking God for our blessings and start lifting up ourselves in our own eyes, we regrettably start resembling Satan. God opposes the proud but gives graces to the humble…
Ezekiel 31:10-11
Therefore thus said the Lord God: Because it is exalted in stature and has set its top among the thick boughs and the clouds, and its heart is proud of its height.
I will hand it over to a mighty nation that will destroy it as its wickedness deserves. I have already discarded it.
I can’t ever forget that it is God who gives me every good, beautiful, successful thing in my life. I am thankful for all that He has done and is doing in my life, not prideful for all that I am or have accomplished.
Father God, it is You that lifts me up to places of success in my life. May I never be prideful in my heart for the good things in my life. Please help me always be thankful and give You glory for any and every single good thing in my life. You are doing great things in me, but it is You and only You that causes these great things in my life. I love You and thank You for Your goodness to me and in me.