Assyrianism

Did you know that eggs are mentioned in the Bible? In Isaiah 10:14 the king of Assyria is bragging about what a great guy he is. He said that he had captured and destroyed all the kingdoms of the world as easily "as one gathers eggs" from an empty nest. No one even "peeped." They knew that to resist him was futile. He was invincible.
What was God's response? I think you know--the destruction of Assyria. And the job God did was so thorough that for centuries historians didn't even believe that the nation of Assyria had ever existed.
The principle that God was reinforcing was that He is the one who has given every man whatever talents and successes he has. Thus, all the glory belongs to Him and to Him alone. How is that applicable to you and me? The person who is special in God's eyes is not necessarily the one who excels. If you have better athletic skills than someone else, that's not to your credit. God gave you that ability. If you are more intelligent than the other guy, that doesn't make you better than he is, God gave you those brains. If you're more attractive--externally--than the other person, that's God's miracle, not your makeup. He's the one who made you--and the other person--exactly the way He wanted.
What then is the criteria for gaining God's approval? Not the talents you have, nor--in reality--how you use them. But rather, who gets the glory and praise for what you do--for how you use those talents. To boast of your gifts and talents--athletically, academically, even spiritually--is to have a bad case of Assyrianism. To use the old cliche, "you've got all your eggs in one basket"--the basket labeled "Pride." No one has ever carried that basket very far without dropping it. And then every one of those eggs is instantly worthless. Scrambled. Not all they're cracked up to be.
There's only one cure for Assyrianism. I don't think you'd like it. Stop being proud of what you are and begin thanking God for what he made you to be. Don't end up with all your eggs mingled in the dust that was once Assyria.