Something the Lord has convicted my heart about in the last three months is my sin of pride. I know the Bible says many things about pride. Here are a few...
"Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment." Psalms 73:6
"Only by pride comes contention, but with the well-advised is wisdom." Proverbs 13:10
"A man's pride will bring him low, but honor will uphold the humble in spirit." Proverbs 29:23
"For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, may they be snared by their pride, and because of curses and lies that they speak." Psalms 59:12
I used to ponder why God hates pride so very much. I believe he hates it because it leads to so many other sins. Pride is the beginning of the path.
Why? Because pride doesn't seem like a sinful thing, does it? And we certainly don't usually see it in ourselves.
I see pride in our hearts when we talk about others and their shortcomings. Ouch! Looking back, I see how many times I did that. I talked about someone else and their faults...oh, not in a way to help. But in a prideful way. Look at them...look at me.
We all have strengths and we all have weaknesses. I think I had a reality check when I changed jobs three months ago. I went from working overnights for five years to suddenly a day job. I will be honest - I struggled. No matter how organized and put together I had claimed to be before...I felt like I was drowning now. Trying to manage 10 hour work days, home school, housewife duties, relationships, church...I mean I struggled. It took several weeks to even get back to where I wanted it to be and even then, there were and are bad days. I sure didn't feel prideful about anything that first month or two.
It humbled me. A lot. You see, when you feel you have your life together (and maybe someone is looking at you and saying, wow!), you can easily develop pride.
And the Bible says it is not what goes into the heart that will defile you...it is what comes out of the heart that defiles you.
Wow, that truth gets me every time. It is my own heart that is ruining me!
Pride definitely leads to being critical. And being critical leads to hurt relationships.
I definitely have been on the side of hurting others...and I've been on the side of being hurt. Both stemmed by pride. I've decided I don't want to live there anymore. Let others have their pride...I don't want it in my life. I want to be the person that speaks well of others. The person that looks for a way to help or encourage instead of criticize. The person who is different in Christ. I hope you will join me!
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