2026
Hubris and Humility
Passage: Luke 18:9-14
REFLECTION QUOTES
“Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
What does it look like or mean for someone or something to be exalted? Share an example of someone or something you have exalted recently.
Read Luke 18:9-14. What does this passage show you about God’s character and about being his follower? What challenges, encourages, or sparks questions for you in this passage? Is there someone in this text that you identify with?
Compare and contrast the appearance of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Consider how each would be perceived by the world or welcomed into your community group. What do we see and hear and observe of each person?
In Mere Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton wrote, “What we suffer from today, is humility in the wrong place. A man was meant be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert—himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt—the Divine Reason.” How have you experienced or observed the ways true confidence is rooted in humility rather than in a strong ego?
In what ways are you most likely to find gratitude and confidence in yourself? Or be overly disappointed in yourself for what you cannot do apart from Christ?
What helps you receive confidence in Christ alone? What reminds you of your need for Christ’s saving love?
PRAYER
Share with your group how they can be praying for you: what is weighing on you from this past week? What are you praising God for from this past week?
Luke 15:10, Jesus speaking: “I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”