Have you ever met someone who thinks they are better than everyone else? They like to brag about themselves. They think they are better looking than other people. They think they are smarter than other people. They think they are faster or stronger or more popular than other people.

There were people like that when Jesus was preaching. Sometimes they even thought that God should treat them better just because they were so good.

Jesus did not like it when people thought they were better than everyone else. He said that people who thought like that had too much pride. Jesus said that people should not be proud. Instead, people should be humble.

Being humble means that you do not brag about yourself. If you are humble, you do not expect everyone to always give you special treatment.

Jesus wanted the proud people to understand about being humble, so he told them a parable. Do you remember what a parable is? A parable is a simple story that helps us to understand something very important.

Here is the parable that Jesus told to the people who had too much pride:

Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and one was a tax collector.

Pharisees were teachers of the Scriptures, and they knew a lot about God’s word. But when this Pharisee prayed, he only thought about how good he was. He stood up and prayed, “God, I thank you that I am not bad like all the other people. I am glad I am not bad like robbers and cheaters. I am glad I am not bad like that tax collector over there.”

Then the Pharisee continued praying, “Lord, I am so good. I give lots of money and I pray a lot. I am really good.”

What do you think God thought about the Pharisee’s prayer? The Pharisee was not humble when he prayed. He had too much pride in himself. Jesus said the Pharisee was not right with God.

Then the tax collector prayed. Sometimes tax collectors cheated people. It was good that this tax collector wanted to pray to God. He did not stand up in front of everyone. He stood off at a distance and he prayed, “God, you are so good. I am sorry that I have done wrong. Please help me to be better.”

What do you think God thought about the tax collector’s prayer? The tax collector was humble when he prayed. He did not think about how good he was. He thought about how good God was. Jesus said that the tax collector could be happy because he was right with God.

After Jesus said the parable, he told everyone to be humble before God and that God would make them great.

Scripture Reference: Luke 18:9-14