Humility: True Greatness

Humility by C. J. Mahaney is a great read and full of great reminders regarding humility and pride.  I wanted to read this book because it was written 10 years prior to Mahaney’s resignation due to issues of pride.

Book Overview

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” —1 Peter 5:5

A battle rages within every one of us every day. It’s the clash between our sense of stubborn self-sufficiency and God’s call to recognize that we’re really nothing without Him. It’s pride versus humility. And it’s a fight we can’t win without looking repeatedly to Christ and the cross. C. J. Mahaney raises a battle cry to daily, diligently, and deliberately weaken our greatest enemy (pride) and cultivate our greatest friend (humility). His thorough examination clarifies misconceptions, revealing the truth about why God detests pride and turns His active attention to the humble. Because pride is never passive, defeating it demands an intentional attack. The blessing that follows is God’s abundant favor.

“This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit.”
—Isaiah 66:2, ESV

Favorite Quotes

  1. The person who is humble is the one who draws God’s attention, and in this sense, drawing His attention means also attracting His grace – His unmerited kindness (20).
  2. Pride is when sinful human beings aspire to the status and position of God and refuse to acknowledge their dependence upon Him (31).
  3. We cannot free ourselves from pride and selfish ambition; a divine rescue is absolutely necessary (52).
  4. But I’ve also learned that the very act of opening my Bible to read and turning my heart and mind to prayer makes a statement that I need God (72).
  5. Each night, as I confront my need again for sleep, I’m reminded that I’m a dependent creatures (84).
  6. Our deliberate pursuit of obedience and growth in godliness isn’t something we enter into with self-confidence, but as an expression of humble dependence upon the God who is actively working (105).
  7. Though we find the promises of God throughout Scripture, they don’t come with specific dates and times (145).
  8. If you’re a parent, don’t celebrate anything more than you celebrate  godly character in your children (160).