Proverbs 29:23

Proverbs 29:23  A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit. The little conjunction but is a powerful word. It is like a seesaw. On the one side we have pride and on the other side we have humility. When someone brags and brags about what a great baseball player they are, everyone else gets tired of hearing them. And when they strike out, their teammates are secretly laughing. They may even laugh on the outside. But a great baseball player doesn't have to tell everyone how good they are. All they have to do is to step up to the plate and hit a home run! Other people like a kid who doesn't brag. Other people like someone who doesn't talk, but someone who really does it. In Bible times, when everyone went to a wedding banquet, the important people would be seated nearest to the host of the banquet. Those who were not as important would have to sit further away from the host in a lower position. Jesus said in Luke 14 that when you come into one of those banquets, you should go to a lower place - go to the humble place. If the host thinks you are a more important person, they will say, "Come up and sit nearer to me." You will be honored. But Jesus went on to talk about a proud guest who would come in to the wedding banquet and try to sit up near to the host. But then if a really important person would later come in, the host would ask the proud person to give up their good seat to the truly important person. The proud person would then have to slink down to a lower seat all embarrassed. Solomon and Jesus were saying to try humility first. That is the best choice.