1 Corinthians 4:7

For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it (KJV)

Then: These three questions must preside during any self-evaluation. Presented rhetorically, Paul expects all answers to reveal the insufficiency of those questioned and the abiding greatness, sufficiency and benficence of the Lord. Without him, none would have anything. The obvious conclusion is that pride in anything but the Lord himself is worthless.

Now: We live with the same questions, but tend to ignore them. We claim all honors as if our desperate prayers for passing a test, getting a job finished, or overcoming difficulty had never been proffered. We conveniently don't think about all that the Lord had to do to make work available, put people with necessary skills in our lives, or organize our schedules to be in the right place at the right time. Instead we extol and brag (mentally and audibly) for our own little part in a success and raise it above the work of others. We need to return to the questions listed here. Why do we take pride as if it had not come to us from the Lord in heaven?