The Reason We Are Meek

"He who knows himself well is mean and abject in his own sight, and takes no delight in the vain praise of men." --Thomas a'Kempis

"'You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve,' said Aslan. 'And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth.'" --C.S. Lewis, Prince Caspian

The concept of being meek and lowly has long confused me. Obtaining true humility seemed rather impossible, and, honestly, rather unappealing. Why must be rid ourselves of all pride? I mean...we do good things, right? And surely we have skills, and talents, and nice features. What makes Pride the worst of all sins, as some have labled it? In moderation...what makes it a sin at all?
These are questions for which I didn't really have any answers for until last night. Oh, I knew that we, compared to the Lord, are unimaginably, unfathomable lowly. I knew that that fact alone should be enough to bring us to our knees. But...once in awhile...I didn't really see what was wrong in enjoying that wee bit of swelling in the chest when people begin to think highly of you. After all, you did deserve it...right?

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." --Galatians 2:20

As a Christian, I believe strongly that the ONLY source of ultimate Truth comes from God. Why do I believe this? Because Jesus told us in His word that He is the "Way, the Truth, and the Life". If there was a way to obtain goodness, even in small amounts, outide of The Lord, then obviously He wound't be the only way, truth, and life. Sure, He may be one way to truth and life...but not the only way, for we could simply cultivate the slight amounts of goodness inside of us to obtain righteousness. This is critical in how we view the sin of pride. If, then, God is the only source of goodness and Truth, as the Bible teaches He is, how is it orthodox to believe that we humans could have even a speck of goodness of truth in us? Simply put, it isn't.
Here's an analogy for you...
Imagine a room....a bare, empty, room. The only thing in this room is a candle, which is lit, casting light throughout the room. Without the candle, the room is pitch black. Now imagine of of the walls boasting about its light, and imagine the other 3 walls praising the this wall for its glorious shine. Would this seem ridiculous? Certainly it knows that it only glows because the candle, the source of the light, is reflecting off of it. Without the candle, the wall would be devoid of any light, whatsoever...just like the rest of the room.
When we fail to recognize our complete incapacity to be a source of any goodness at all, we are essentially saying that He is not the only way. He is not the only Truth. He is not the only Life.