Cain smiting Abel with God’s Expulsion of Cain from the Garden of Eden by Marco and Sebastiano Ricci.
Sometimes we all need to be taken down a peg. We get a little proud, a little arrogant, and we need reminding that we are here to serve God. When we catch ourselves crediting our human ability rather than God for our accomplishments, we should look to the Bible for a lesson on humility. The story of Cain and Abel tells us to put the teachings of God before our desires. This account is one that we should all heed, lest we fall into these patterns of behavior and bear their bad fruits. Many would read this story with detached superiority—after all, most of us aren’t murderers like Cain. However, Jesus teaches us that murder begins in the heart as hate, and Jude warns us that we all have the potential to follow in the footsteps of Cain. Therefore, we must exercise control over our emotions and show humility so we can avoid making the same mistakes as him.
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.
Matthew 5:21-22
After God banished them from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had a firstborn son and named him Cain. Shortly after, Eve gave birth to Cain’s younger brother, Abel. Cain grew up to be a farmer and Abel was a shepherd. One year, when it came time to harvest, Cain presented some of his yield as an offering to God, but Abel selected the best portion of the firstborn lambs from his flock and offered them by faith (Genesis 4:4, Hebrews 11:4). The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, but rejected Cain and his offering. This infuriated Cain and the Lord warned him against harboring this anger. Instead of heeding God’s warning, Cain led Abel out into the fields and murdered him. When God later asked Cain where his brother was, Cain lied about his crime (Genesis 4:8-9). The Lord cursed Cain with diminished yields from his crops and to wander the earth without a home, but he protected him from those who would kill him by marking him to warn others that his death would be avenged sevenfold. Cain then traveled to an area east of Eden and lived out the remainder of his cursed life.
Cain’s downward spiral was certainly caused, in large part, by his emotional instability. We can infer from this story that negative emotions will fester if left unchecked. For example, Cain’s rejection lead to frustration, bitterness, anger, hatred, and finally, wrathful action. If you’re going to be a man and a follower of the Lord, you need to control your emotions. God perceived this weakness in Cain and it was such a major deficiency that He rejected not just Cain’s offering, but Cain himself. Cain reacted negatively at his rejection, but God gave him the chance to get a grip on his emotions and do what was right (Genesis 4:6). Instead of taking this opportunity to redeem himself, Cain murdered his brother and then lied about it. When we make mistakes and become frustrated with ourselves, God never turns His back on us; He gives us the chance to try again. We need to make the most of His grace by taking responsibility for our trespasses instead of letting our frustrations lead us further into sin.
Since we owe everything we have to God, we must honor Him in the way He commands and put Him first in all of our pursuits. Cain kept the best portion of his crop for himself—a crop that was given to him by God, no less—while Abel gave the first of his flock. By disregarding the instructions on offerings and reserving the choice produce for himself, Cain was prioritizing himself before God. We are sometimes guilty of this as well. We can follow God, go through the motions of His commandments, and think we should win His favor by focusing on worldly achievements, but these are not the offerings that God desires. We cannot please God by focusing on ourselves. All that we achieve must be done in the name of God, and be offered up to God. Nothing we do that fails to put God first will please Him, no matter how much we think it should (Isaiah 66:3, Isaiah 1:10-15). We must humble ourselves before God and know we can do nothing without Him. And when He does bless us with success in our life, He expects us to offer our first fruits back to Him.
Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
Jude 1:11
Even after our greatest failures, God still wishes to shield us from evil (as He did Cain) because He doesn’t want us to be destroyed; He wants us to return to Him. I can look back on many instances when God protected me from my own mistakes before I was even following Him, and I know there are many others who could say the same. Our loving Father gives us so much grace when we deserve nothing and so we should do what we can to please Him. We must be careful not to worship our own achievements, but instead give God the praise. If we want God to be proud of us, we must rule our emotions before they rule us. Cain’s desires were at odds with God, while Abel’s earnest faith exalted Him. Let us therefore live not by the heart of man, but by faith in God.
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