Arrogance
I am not a fan of arrogance when I see it in a person. I try really hard to keep my heart in check against this prideful display. Please don’t confuse confidence with arrogance. Sometimes they are close rivals. Arrogance is a display of superiority or self-importance. (dictionary.com) Confidence is really a belief in oneself. I want to discover my confidence by leaning into the Power of God in me. His Power, displayed in me should be humble, but confident NOT arrogant.
The Ephraimites appear to be a bit arrogant. When Gideon was pursuing the Midianites, they acted all haughty about why they weren’t asked to fight with Gideon. Gideon was able to calm their anger with diplomacy. Most recently, they went after Jephthah after he had defeated Ammon. Check this out….
1 Then the people of Ephraim mobilized an army and crossed over the Jordan River to Zaphon. They sent this message to Jephthah: “Why didn’t you call for us to help you fight against the Ammonites? We are going to burn down your house with you in it!”
2 Jephthah replied, “I summoned you at the beginning of the dispute, but you refused to come! You failed to help us in our struggle against Ammon. 3 So when I realized you weren’t coming, I risked my life and went to battle without you, and the Lord gave me victory over the Ammonites. So why have you now come to fight me?”
4 The people of Ephraim responded, “You men of Gilead are nothing more than fugitives from Ephraim and Manasseh.” So Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and attacked the men of Ephraim and defeated them. (Judges 12:1-4 NLT)
It is my view that arrogance blinded the people of Ephraim. They thought more of themselves than they ought. They didn’t stop to ask whether the Lord was with Jephthah or not.
I believe arrogance will blind me to the reality of every situation. Arrogance can skew my view of me as well as others. When I’m around arrogant people, there is a certain presence about them that is quite distasteful. I’ve seen religious leaders who are arrogant in their faith. This is especially disgusting because they don’t deserve to be saved any more than the next person, yet they come off acting all “high and mighty”. If there is any one thing I’ve learned from following the Lord is that He can’t stand arrogance and haughty behavior.
The Lord rewards the humble in heart. He can work with the humble, but the arrogant are unteachable and often unreachable. Check this out…
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. (James 4:10 NLT)
I’m not going to pass judgement on others, but arrogance has a “smell” that is not pleasant, while humility gives off a sweet-smelling aroma that says, “it’s not about me”. I love being around humble people. I think it’s also a mistake to confuse humility with weakness. Humble people choose the posture of humility, but they are incredibly strong and powerful in God’s economy.
Pressing On!
Dwayne