On the Day of Atonement, Christians fast to afflict their souls, demonstrating that only when man sees himself in proper comparison to God will he have the right attitude to submit to Him. Fasting puts us in a humble spirit, showing how dependent we are upon God's providence, so we can walk in harmony with Him. When we deprive ourselves of life's necessities, we recognize our reliance on His care. This proper perspective, gained through fasting, prepares us to live humbly before God, allowing His Word and Spirit to work wonders among the people of the world.

Comparing oneself to the greatness of God begins the process of correction in a person. This self-evaluation occurs against God alone and produces humility as pride diminishes. Yielding to the sovereignty of God supplies the proper comparisons that enable wise choices. The ideal of childlike qualities serves as a goal against which one compares oneself in order to work toward that standard. Grasping the sovereignty of God leads to praise of Him as salvation and allows knowledge of Him to produce humility before Him.

God is not simply a greater man. His mind's capacity so far exceeds ours that no comparison is more apt than the one He Himself gives. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. If we compare the purity and extent of God's greatness to our humanity with all its physical, spiritual, moral and ethical frailties, we must recognize how ignorant, shortsighted, weak in character, unfeeling, uncaring, hard, bitter, complaining and self-centered we are. We need a specialized kind of help, and its only source if we truly want to change is God. Surely, if we are open to it, this humbles us.

The material stresses that any attempt to compare ourselves to God must begin by rejecting the notion that He is merely a greater man. His mind operates on a plane so far above human capacity that no adequate parallel exists except the one He Himself supplies, namely that His thoughts stand as high above ours as the heavens are above the earth. This infinite distance means God never lacks foresight, wisdom, or awareness of events, nor does He require human prompting to act. Because His plans already reflect perfect goodness and unerring judgment, prayer cannot serve to alter His mind or supply information He lacks. Instead, the recognition of this disparity forces the one who prays to acknowledge personal shortsightedness, weakness, and dependence. Such acknowledgment produces humility, which in turn opens the way for submission to His will and the reception of the very qualities He desires to impart. The same contrast therefore shapes the entire approach to prayer: it is never an exercise in directing God but a daily means of aligning the human will with the divine purpose already fixed from the beginning.

The theme of comparing ourselves to God serves as the mechanism through which several vital Christian character traits are produced, all stemming from a deep acceptance of God's sovereignty. This process begins when a person genuinely comes to see God, even without literal physical sight, through diligent study and application of His Word. The reactions of biblical figures who glimpsed God's glory illustrate this principle powerfully: Job repented in dust and ashes after hearing God speak; Isaiah cried out about his uncleanness upon seeing God's throne; and Daniel fainted dead away at his vision. These responses demonstrate that grasping God's true greatness inevitably and positively disturbs one's sense of personal worth. This comparison directly produces the fear of God, not as servile terror but as worshipful admiration mixed with awe at His intelligence, creativity, and mercy. Since human nature is naturally enmity with God, this fear must be learned through relationship with Him, and it becomes foundational to a life of faith. Romans 3:18 identifies the absence of this fear as the root cause of humanity's corrupted heart and conduct, since without it, godly knowledge and wisdom cannot grow. From this comparison flows humility, the second fruit. As one's sense of self diminishes against God's overwhelming glory, pride, which drives man's natural self-focus, begins breaking down. This directly counters the problem exemplified by Pharaoh, whose declaration "I do not know the Lord" reveals that ignorance of God produces irreverence and disobedience, while knowing Him produces humility and submission. Understanding God's sovereignty removes every ground for human boasting, since salvation itself comes by grace rather than personal contribution. The third fruit, obedience, emerges as humility supplants pride. Recognizing our practical nothingness compared to God creates a childlike dependency, illustrated in Jesus' teaching that greatness in the Kingdom belongs to those who humble themselves like children, marked by easy dependence, trust, and awareness of weakness. This childlike submission becomes the model for how converted adults must relate to God. Finally, comprehending God's sovereignty produces resignation, an uncomplaining endurance rather than defeat. Since God owns us entirely and never afflicts us beyond what we deserve or can bear, complaints and fears diminish as we recognize His constant, loving oversight. Figures like Job, Eli, and Aaron modeled this acceptance of God's will without murmuring, and Jesus Himself submitted perfectly to affliction He did not deserve. Together, these four fruits, fear of God, humility, obedience, and resignation, arise from rightly comparing our puny lives and characters to God's glory, forming the character growth necessary to endure coming trials and potentially perform the exploits foretold for those who truly know their God.