The Explanation

Paul was writing a letter to his friends. He wanted to help them live together well. In this letter he says something that sounds like a riddle. Listen carefully: "If a man thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself."

Imagine a boy named Sam. Sam is fast. Really fast. Faster than everyone in his class. One day he starts thinking, "I am the best. I am better than all of them." He walks around with his chin up high. He will not help anyone carry their bag anymore. Why should he? He is Sam the Fast.

But here is the trick Paul is talking about. Sam is fooling himself. He thinks he is something big, all by himself. He forgets who gave him those fast legs in the first place. He forgets that being fast does not make him better than his friends who are slow, or kind, or funny, or good at drawing.

"He deceives himself," Paul says. That means Sam is not tricking anyone else. He is tricking himself. And that trick has a sting in it, because it makes him lonely.

What Does This Mean?

This is important because pride is sneaky. It does not knock on the door and say, "Hello, I am pride, watch out for me." No, it creeps in quietly, right after you win a race, or get the highest score on a test, or when someone says you are the best at something.

Paul had just told his friends something completely different. He said: carry each other's heavy things. Help each other when someone falls down. That only works if nobody thinks he is too important to bend down and help. A boy who thinks he is "something" will not carry anyone's burden. He will look down instead of reaching out his hand.

So the message is simple, and a little bit uncomfortable: you are not nothing, but you are not the biggest thing in the room either. Everyone needs help sometimes. Even Sam the Fast.

The Common Thread

Here is something wonderful. Jesus, who really was the greatest, the Son of God himself, never once walked around saying "I am something." He knelt down. He touched sick people others were afraid to touch. He carried the weight of the whole world, all our wrong choices, on a wooden cross, without ever bragging about how strong he was.

Paul says later in this same letter that he will not boast in himself, but only in what Jesus did on the cross. That is the opposite of Sam the Fast. Jesus had every reason to feel important, and instead he became small to carry us.

For You

So here is something you can actually do this week. Think of one thing you are good at. Maybe it is running, or drawing, or being funny. Now think of someone near you who struggles with exactly that thing. Instead of showing off, go and help them. Show them how you do it. Sit next to them.

And when someone tells you "you are so good at this," say thank you, but remember quietly inside: I did not make myself this way. God gave me these hands, this mind, this strength. That keeps you from becoming like Sam, all alone at the top, thinking he is something when really, he needed help all along too.

Talk About It

Can you think of a time you felt like you were "the best" at something? How did it make you treat others?

Who is someone you could help this week, even in something small?

Praying Together

Dear God, thank you for the things you have given me, my hands, my legs, my mind. Help me not to think too highly of myself. Show me who I can help today. Thank you that Jesus, who truly was the greatest, chose to carry us instead of looking down on us. Amen.