Today’s Post By: Rae Lynn DeAngelis
“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2)
Take it from someone who knows—humility can be a painstaking teacher. With more than my fair share of humbling moments, I remember one incident in particular. The lesson was painful but lasting.
I was probably about eleven or so when my friends and I decided to give smoking a try. In hindsight… it was a bad idea. We thought we were pretty cool… until we got caught by our dads.
Our first mistake was approving my friends’ suggestion to borrow a few cigarettes from her dad’s pack. Did I mention the pack was full? We figured with all those cigarettes, surely her dad wouldn’t miss a few.
As you can probably guess, this little hypothesis led to our downfall.
We grabbed the stogies and headed for the woods. Far away from the watchful eyes of others, we lit up and began puffing away. We were feeling quite grown up until we heard muffled voices in the distance. We promptly disposed of the evidence but only moments before our dads appeared in the clearing. The smoke didn’t even have time to clear the air.
I’m sure guilt was written all over our faces. My heart was pounding so hard in my chest that I began feeling dizzy, a combination of fear and nicotine. One by one, our dads walked up and asked if we had been smoking. My friends denied it vehemently, but lying was never my strong suit. I knew that if my dad was asking the question—he already knew the answer.
“When anyone is guilty in any of these ways, he must confess in what way he has sinned…” (Leviticus 5:5)
Tears burst forth as I spilled the ugly truth, incriminating myself and my friends. They shot evil looks my way for betraying them, but what could I do? Our dads were on to us. Denying our folly would only make matters worse.
There was a heavy price to pay for each one of us, but because I told the truth, I wasn’t punished as severely as my friends. I learned an important lesson that day. When you mess up—fess up. I also learned that mercy results from a humble and contrite spirit. I’m very grateful that my parents recognized the opportunity to teach me these important, life-altering lessons.
“He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13)
“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD’—and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” (Psalm 32:5)
