Humility vs. Pride

1 Peter 5:5, "...God resists the proud and giveth grace to the humble."

I'll never forget the way that I saw this verse illustrated at one time. One person was walking toward, trying to get up close, to someone, and that person had their hand up, holding them back, so that they couldn't get near them. They were resisting their attempts to draw near to them. Pride is a horrible thing that everyone struggles with. But, I sure don't want the pride in my life to be keeping God away from me. It is a serious thing to distance ourselves from God and His grace. I used to have a real problem with people who I thought were proud or arrogant. I had a hard time liking them and listening to leaders who appeared this way. But then I heard someone teach that if we knew someone who was proud, we better pray hard for them, because their pride is causing God to resist them. They are placing themselves outside of the protection or grace of God that comes from being humble. It's a very scary place to be in.
Pride can express itself in a lot of ways that we don't even recognize. Often, we use the excuse that we are just shy (my excuse), But really, this just means that we are worried about what people are going to think about us, which is pride. This so much of the time, keeps us from being obedient to what God is telling us to do. We are often so self conscious, that we worry more about what others think of us than of what God thinks of us. We fail to obey and truly worship God our Saviour, because we are are afraid of how we will appear to others. Can you imagine? After all He's done for us and the humility He suffered for us.
My Bibles definition for humility is, "an attitude of mind that realizes that one is without any reason for distinction in Gods sight." I like this definition. We (I) need to remember that in Gods eyes, I am no better than anyone else, or any lower. Who cares what people think of me as long as I am doing what is pleasing to God. I need His nearness and His grace.