Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (KJV)
17 "And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. 18 But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day."
When we first encounter God’s grace, it often breaks us. We remember the nights of loneliness, the seasons of emptiness, and the weight of depression we couldn’t shake. We remember how Jesus came into our lives and gave us peace when nothing else worked. We were humbled by the reality that salvation is a gift, not a reward.
But over time, if we’re not careful, something dangerous happens: we forget. We start to see our blessings as something we earned. We become comfortable in the peace that God gave us and begin to feel entitled to it. We forget that grace is unearned, undeserved, and purely given because of God’s love.
I want you guys to understand something very important: pride grows when gratitude fades.
We must always remember that the same grace that lifted us up is the same grace that should keep us grounded. Jesus doesn’t want us to dwell in guilt about our past, but He does want us to remember what life was like before we met Him. Why? Because humility is rooted in remembrance. Ephesians 2:12 (KJV) says, "That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world."
Before grace, we were spiritually bankrupt—empty, lost, and without hope. We couldn’t save ourselves from sin, depression, fear, or loneliness. Jesus stepped in when we were at our lowest, not because we were good but because He is good. But Satan now works to make us forget that grace. He replaces humility and gratitude with pride. We must never accept the heart that we are doing "well".
The cure for pride is remembering who you were without grace.
Pride doesn’t usually show up all at once. It creeps in when we stop being amazed by grace. When blessings become expectations, we move from grateful to grumbling. We start to judge others who are still struggling, forgetting that we once stood in their shoes. Every blessing, every breakthrough, every ounce of peace we enjoy is a gift from God. We didn’t earn salvation, and we don’t sustain it, Jesus does.
Jesus, the King of kings, showed us the ultimate example of humility. He had every reason to demand honor, yet He washed feet. He had every right to condemn, yet He forgave. He had the power to rule, yet He chose to serve.
Satan tells you to stand tall, God tells us to kneel.
I hope we can regularly remind ourselves in a non-condemning way who we were before Jesus saved us. I hope we can thank God each day for all the blessings of peace. I hope we can think about the emptiness He filled, the peace He gave, and the hope He restored. Ask Him to keep your heart humble and to help you see every blessing as a gift, not an entitlement.
Amen & Selah!
