Verse of the Day for August 16

Pride goeth before destruction is one of the most famous lines in Proverbs. It is usually read as a warning to the proud. One verse later comes a word for everyone else.

Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. Notice the small word with. It is not only about having a humble spirit in private. It is about where you stand and whose company you keep. Lowly people. People with no spoil to divide.

Feeling small often comes from comparison. The classmate with the car, the cousin abroad, the colleague who was promoted first. We look at those who are dividing the spoil and feel left behind.

Proverbs says, gently, that you may be standing in the better place. Spoil divided among the proud has a way of ending in a fall. And The highway of the upright is described simply as departing from evil and keeping your way. Nothing grand. Just steady.

If you feel small today on the walk home from a job that pays little, consider who is walking beside you. There is honour in that road. Jesus himself chose it, and he still walks it with the lowly.

Small is not the same as lost.

Look around at the lowly people near you. You are in good company.