This is a repost of a daily devotion from Our Daily Bread.
Post written by Bill Crowder
When a general returned from a victorious battle, ancient Rome would stage a parade to welcome the conqueror home. The parade would include the general’s troops, as well as trophy captives who had been brought along as evidence of the victory. As the parade made its way through the city, the crowds would cheer their hero’s success.
To prevent the general’s ego from becoming unduly swollen, a slave rode along with him in his chariot. Why? So that as the Roman throngs heaped praise on the general, the slave could continually whisper in his ear, “You too are mortal.”
When successful, we too may lose sight of our own frailty and allow our hearts to fill with destructive pride. James pointed us away from the danger of pride by pointing us to humility and to God. He wrote, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). The key to that statement is grace. Nothing is more wonderful! The Lord alone deserves thanks and praise—especially for the grace He has lavished on us.
Our achievements, success, or greatness are not rooted in ourselves. They are the product of God’s matchless grace, upon which we are eternally dependent.
MENTENTIONAL 
The thing about humility is the slave and the Roman hero bring the same value as human beings to the table. One life hasn’t been treated fairly, but they are both equal. Our own lives and those we consider as enemies both have the same value as well. You may ask,”How can that be? I live for the Lord and they don’t? That statement may be true, but where humility comes in is the realization that Jesus’ life was the payment for all life. The slave would say too us all, “You too are mortal.”
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