Maybe, you feel like you can’t get out of place. I’m going to tell you about two things that could be happening to you. They are two of the biggest blockages in a person’s life: pride and shame.

When I started going to school, around 6 or 7 years old, I noticed that the students who did best in the classroom were the ones who asked. Students who weren’t ashamed to raise their hands and say: “I don’t understand, teacher”. Those who sincerely and humbly asked whether they did well in class. I understood this and started putting it into practice. It’s something that has helped me.

In areas we don’t study, we don’t know certain things, for example. Nobody knows everything! Therefore, it is not shameful to ask someone to explain. Pride can make the person not ask or even pretend to know (which is hypocrisy).

So that’s why shame and pride are big blocks to people’s advancement. Because when a person doesn’t want to have the humility to ask someone: “Please tell me, what am I doing wrong? How do I do this best?” they get stuck in ignorance. One question can save years of your life.

It’s like the story of Naaman in the Bible (2 Kings 5). He was a captain in the army of the king of Syria and he had leprosy. He was a hero among the people, but his life was compromised. He heard that there was a prophet in Israel, Elisha, who could heal him. So he took the journey of nearly a thousand kilometres to Israel. There he expected that the man of God would receive him.

However, the expectation was frustrated, because Elisha did not even leave the house. He sent a messenger to tell Naaman that he should bathe in the Jordan River, which was muddy. So Naaman stormed off. Namaan’s pride was preventing him from receiving the cure. But halfway through, his servants (that is, they were people socially inferior to him) advised him to obey the prophet. Naaman humbly returned, was healed and converted to the God of Israel as well.

In this way, any pride or prejudice makes you stuck in your life. What do you need when you have“leprosy” in your life? You don’t need a beautiful river with crystal clear water, what you need is healing. It is worth remembering that the religious were before the Lord Jesus himself, but they did not see Him because of religious pride. They expected something more sophisticated, but God doesn’t work and He’s not like that.

Wake up! Who knows, maybe with a little more sincerity, you’ll take big steps in your life. Reflect on the message in the video above.