Look at the commencement of His ministry. In the Beatitudes with which the Sermon on the Mount opens, He speaks: "Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

As much as you have pride within you, you have the fallen angel alive in you. As much as you have true humility, you have of the Lamb of God within you.

Even sharp comments and hasty judgments that are often excused as being honest and straightforward, are thwarting the effect of the influence of the Holy Spirit on others. Manifestations of temper and touchiness and irritation, feelings of bitterness and estrangement, have their root in nothing but pride. Pride creeps in almost everywhere, and the assemblies of the saints are not exceptions.

The truth is this: Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you.

In heaven and earth, pride, self-exaltation, is the gate and the birth, and the curse, of hell.

Humility, the place of entire dependence on God, is the first duty of the creature, and the root of every good quality. Likewise, pride, or the loss of this humility, is the root of every sin and evil.

Without humility, there can be no true dwelling in God's presence or enjoying His favor and the power of His Spirit.

Christ is the expression of the humility of God embodied in human nature; the Eternal Love humbling itself, clothing itself in the garb of meekness and gentleness, to win and serve and save us. As the love and condescension of God makes Him the benefactor and helper and servant of all, so Jesus of necessity was the Incarnate Humility. And so He is still, in the midst of the throne, the meek and lowly Lamb of God.

Humility is the only soil in which virtue takes root; a lack of humility is the explanation of every defect and failure. Humility is not so much a virtue along with the others, but is the root of all, because it alone takes the right attitude before God and allows Him, as God, to do all.

Let us consider how our lack of love, indifference to the needs and feelings of others, even sharp comments and hasty judgments that are often excused as being honest and straightforward, are thwarting the effect of the influence of the Holy Spirit on others. Manifestations of temper and touchiness and irritation, feelings of bitterness and estrangement, have their root in nothing but pride.

Humility, the place of entire dependence on God, is, from the very nature of things, the first duty and the highest virtue of the creature, and the root of every virtue. And so pride, or the loss of this humility, is the root of every sin and evil.

The humble man seeks at all times to act according to the rule: with honour preferring one another; by charity serve one another; esteem[ing] others better than themselves; submitting yourselves one to another.