5 July 2020
Avoiding False Hope and Pride
VAIN
is the man who puts his trust in men, in created things.
Do
not be ashamed to serve others for the love of Jesus Christ and to seem poor in
thisvworld. Do not be self-sufficient but place your trust in God. Do what lies
in your power and God will aid your good will. Put no trust in your own
learning nor in the cunning of any man, but rather in the grace of God Who
helps the humble and humbles the proud.
If
you have wealth, do not glory in it, nor in friends because they are powerful,
but invGod Who gives all things and Who desires above all to give Himself. Do
not boast of personal stature or of physical beauty, qualities which are marred
and destroyed by a little sickness. Do not take pride in your talent or
ability, lest you displease God to Whom belongs all the natural gifts that you
have.
Do
not think yourself better than others lest, perhaps, you be accounted worse
before God Who knows what is in man. Do not take pride in your good deeds, for
God’s judgments differ from those of men and what pleases them often displeases
Him. If there is good in you, see more good in others, so that you may remain
humble. It does no harm to esteem yourself less than anyone else, but it is
very harmful to think yourself better than even one. The humble live in
continuous peace, while in the hearts of the proud are envy and frequent anger.
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, p12
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