The Balloon

"God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." (James 4:6) Imagine a balloon. It gets bigger and bigger. It takes up more and more space. It seems to say, "Look at me! Look how huge I am!" But what is actually inside the balloon?

Just air. The bigger it gets, the thinner and weaker its skin becomes. It becomes incredibly fragile. If you touch it with a tiny pin, POP. It is destroyed instantly. Pride turns your soul into a balloon.

It inflates your ego. You want all the credit. You want the applause. You want to be the biggest person in the room. But the bigger your ego gets, the weaker you become on the inside. You become easily offended ("How dare they speak to me like that!"

). You live in constant fear of someone popping your image. Now imagine a Rock . It is small. It sits low to the ground. But it is solid all the way through. If you poke a rock with a pin, the pin breaks.

Humility turns you into a rock. You don't need to look "big" to feel important. You are content to be small and solid.

Pride is the Original Sin . It is what turned Lucifer into Satan. It is what turned Adam into a rebel. Pride is the dangerous belief that I am the center of the universe . James says God "opposes" the proud.

That means God actively sets Himself up as a roadblock against you. If you are proud, you don't just have people against you; you have the Creator against you. Humility is not thinking badly about yourself; it is simply thinking about yourself less .

Reflect on this: Do you get defensive and angry when someone gives you constructive criticism? That is the balloon fearing the pin. A humble person says: "You might be right. I still have a lot to learn."

Try being a rock today. It is much safer than being a balloon. 👣 Take a Step Action: The Low Road. Intentionally choose the "lower seat" today. Let someone else speak first in a meeting. Let someone else merge ahead of you in Lagos traffic.

Clean up a mess you didn't make.