You know, it doesn’t matter how old I get, it doesn’t seem like my struggle with pride gets any easier. I was recently trying a case and made an objection to opposing counsel leading her witness and—before the judge could say anything, she quickly retorted, “Oh, that’s very rich from the leading queen.“ Everyone in the courtroom was a little stunned by the personal attack and honestly, I had to purposefully shut my mouth, turn off my PRIDE [as well as my irrepressible sense of humor] before I said the first words that came to mind, “Crown me!“ 😳 That retort would not have been glorifying the Almighty God. In fact, that lack of decorum on my part would likely have drawn a reprimand from the judge.
Ah, if only I could ALWAYS keep my pride from making a fool out of me!
Personal attacks are among one of many circumstances which reveal our pride. But when the Bible speaks of “pride” it doesn’t necessarily mean strutting around like a peacock or giving clever retorts to little personal digs. No, pride often manifests itself quite innocuously. We lose our mindset of thankfulness towards God and dependence upon Him. The Bible explains:
“[A]lthough they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools…” Romans 1:21-22
Pride is the desire to live independently from God—which, of course, was original sin.
Didn’t Eve eat the fruit because she believed it would make her “like God?” Genesis 3:4 If she was LIKE God—she wouldn’t NEED God—right? We do the same thing when we think we can live without God. Our desire to be self-sufficient and live our own way in disobedience to God’s Word is very dangerous because the Bible says:
“God RESISTS the proud and gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6
Do you want to live with God resisting everything you do??? I don’t! The opposite of pride is humility, which dismisses “self” and exchanges it for God’s glorious presence. When our life becomes centered on glorifying Him, we experience HIM—NOT SELF—as our primary source of joy, hope, wisdom, power, and love. We no longer need to defend ourselves from personal jabs because our life isn’t about us. It’s about Him. His presence captivates us. The experience of His presence is magnificent and incomparable. God gives everything in our life a deeper meaning. The Psalmist wrote:
“Thou will show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Psalm 16:11
It staggers my imagination to think that Almighty God has given such a weak and imperfect person as myself—the favor of His presence.
God is the standard for all good—and, without Him–we are nothing. John Piper said:
“‘God IS’ means–that nothing that ISN’T God–depends totally UPON God.”
This is the mindset we must develop in order to be close to Him. When God refers to Himself as “I AM,” He is giving us the rich truth about reality: He is the eternally self-existing One. WE—are not! Only those who are humble will comprehend this truth enough to be transformed by it. When we humble our heart and draw close to God, we discover that there is more goodness in His friendship than we’ve ever known in any other relationship!
Perpetual thankfulness produces humility and keeps us from making a fool of ourselves.
My friend, when we are born again, we have so much to be thankful for. As we begin to rewire our brain to have a thankful mindset, we dethrone “self.” We center ourselves on God—and remember our purpose is not our own happiness but rather; we are a masterpiece for His glory.
When we are so busy living for our glorious God-given purpose, we are given the mind of Christ and we have NO desire to live in self-destructive pride.
We would love to hear your thoughts about this devotional. Did God speak to you or challenge your daily walk with him? Or is there a topic that you would like Kimberly to cover or expound on? Please share with us in the comments below.
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One Response
We must deny self to truly glorify God .