James 4:6

Verse

James 4:6

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

  • Grace
  • Humility
  • Blessings
  • Mercy
  • Arrogance
  • Pride
Bebe's interpretation
When people want to experience the abundant, supernatural grace of God, they best start with a humble disposition. When God made humans, He gave them everything. Where the problem of pride comes in is that it tries to pretend or rebuff the fact that God made all things and should be honored.
Pride never accepts the fact that influence, intelligence, wisdom, money, or other advantages were or are sponsored by God. That makes no sense because we know that Psalms 24 says the earth is the LORD’s, its fullness, and the people in it. Everything belongs to God. The Bible also unambiguously declares God’s sovereignty as Creator and Maker. So why do the proud oppose this reality, and what do they get for it?
Today's verse unequivocally establishes God’s plan for those who refuse to accept that He is God and deny all glory to be ascribed to Him. This is what He does – He opposes them. What does it mean for God to oppose? It's definitely not what you would want to experience.
We have a few instances of God’s opposition in the Scriptures. We have Lucifer, who was once a glorious angel but fell because of pride; Nebuchadnezzar, a great Babylonian king who was proud and got changed into a beast for seven years before giving glory to God; and Herod, who got struck on the spot and was eaten by worms because he received the glory of God from men. These and many more examples are in the Bible to show us what God's opposition looks like.
But we want to be on the side of God’s grace and favor. In order to receive this favorable side that lifts and blesses us, we must be humble. Examples of people who received the reward of humility? We see Abraham, Joseph, David, Jesus, etc. On this side are many people we admire and follow. This is what the grace of God does. It changes the stories of people for the better.
There is a sharp contrast between the reward of the proud and the reward of the humble. Which would you prefer to have?
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