From The NRSV Daily Bible
Meditate
You say, “See, I have defeated Edom,” and your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. Now stay at home; why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you? (2 Chronicles 25: 19)
Contemplate
There are two things you should know: first, what you are; second, that you are not what you are by your own power. Then you will boast, but not in vain. It says that if you do not know yourself, you should go and follow the flocks of your companions. This is what actually happens. When man has a high honor bestowed on him but does not appreciate it, he is deservedly compared with the beasts, with whom he shares his present mortality and state of corruption.
It happens too when a man does not appreciate the gift of reason and spends his time with herds of unreasoning beasts; and when he ignores the glory that is within him and models himself on the outward things his senses perceive; and when he is so carried away by curiosity that he becomes no different from any other animal, because he does not see that he has received anything more than they have.
And so we should greatly fear the ignorance that makes us think less of ourselves than we should. But no less, indeed rather more, should we fear the ignorance that makes us think ourselves better than we are. This is what happens when we are deceived into thinking that some good in us originates with ourselves. (—Bernard of Clairvaux, Selected Works)
Do I tend to think less of myself than I should or do I tend to think I’m better than others? Am I proud where I should be humble and self-effacing where I should be confident? Where does the good that resides within me originate from?
Pray
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change (James 1: 17). Gracious God, you are the source of all good things. Forgive me for boasting in those good things as if they originated from my doing.
Meditate
You say, “See, I have defeated Edom,” and your heart has lifted you up in boastfulness. Now stay at home; why should you provoke trouble so that you fall, you and Judah with you? (2 Chronicles 25: 19)
Contemplate
There are two things you should know: first, what you are; second, that you are not what you are by your own power. Then you will boast, but not in vain. It says that if you do not know yourself, you should go and follow the flocks of your companions. This is what actually happens. When man has a high honor bestowed on him but does not appreciate it, he is deservedly compared with the beasts, with whom he shares his present mortality and state of corruption.
It happens too when a man does not appreciate the gift of reason and spends his time with herds of unreasoning beasts; and when he ignores the glory that is within him and models himself on the outward things his senses perceive; and when he is so carried away by curiosity that he becomes no different from any other animal, because he does not see that he has received anything more than they have.
And so we should greatly fear the ignorance that makes us think less of ourselves than we should. But no less, indeed rather more, should we fear the ignorance that makes us think ourselves better than we are. This is what happens when we are deceived into thinking that some good in us originates with ourselves. (—Bernard of Clairvaux, Selected Works)
Do I tend to think less of myself than I should or do I tend to think I’m better than others? Am I proud where I should be humble and self-effacing where I should be confident? Where does the good that resides within me originate from?
Pray
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change (James 1: 17). Gracious God, you are the source of all good things. Forgive me for boasting in those good things as if they originated from my doing.
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