Better to be Lowly

Proverbs 12:9

Better to be lowly and have a servant
than to play the great man and lack bread.

It is better to have shown the wisdom and done the labor to provide for oneself and one's family, than to give the appearance of prosperity and yet in truth have nothing that is secure. Thus, it is better to not be able to join the fashionable crowd that spends freely because you are wisely keeping to your budget, than to run up debt in an effort to appear well-to-do.

We are tempted to play at being what we are not. We buy the clothes that make us seem more prosperous and more worldly than we are. We buy music, see movies, etc. based on the opinion of the crowd we want to fit in with. We "play" the part that others deem important.

But again, it is better to be lowly in the eyes of others and be true to ourselves; or rather, be true to God. For as we are true to God, so we are true to what we are made to be. As we are true to God, so we will prove to be wise. As we are true to God, so we will find true security in him.