HUMILITY DOESN’T COME EASILY
One of the biggest battles I’ve had in my life has been my battle with pride. Pride can be a very subtle thing, but it is extremely dangerous! When I think I have it licked in one area of life it pops up in another. Not only that, but it’s very hard for me to recognize it in my own life! I can see pride in others quite easily but am almost totally blinded to it in my own life.
It’s important to have confidence in myself and enjoy who I am and what I’ve accomplished, but I can’t become proud. Some people put themselves down all the time and that is still pride. It’s an over-emphasis of self, self-centeredness and self-focus. There really isn’t any difference between saying I’m better than others and saying I’m worse than others. The focus is still on me. And that is pride. Pride takes our eyes off Jesus and puts it on ourselves. Satan doesn’t care if we think we are better than others or worse than others. Either way we are thinking about ourself and not God.
The best I can do is to keep asking God to show me MY pride and to keep me from it. I truly don’t want to be acting in pride. But I also am often unaware of it in its early stages. Daily I must ask God to keep me from it, to show it to me and to help me keep from it. Pride is something every pastor has to be careful of. A proud pastor is not a good testimony for Jesus because he is more concerned about himself than the people. Others can see hi pride, even if he can’t.
My wife has been my biggest help in pointing out pride to me before I recognize it. Wanting to always be right, reacting against constructive criticism, little critical things I say about others, attitudes to other ministries who compete with or do things differently than mine, these and others are subtle ways she can see pride before I see it. I need to confess it and ask God to change my heart.
Pride is at the root of all sin. Self-centeredness is the opposite of God-centeredness and other-centeredness. It’s such a large part of our ‘flesh’ that we will have to deal with it as long as we live in these bodies. Thank God for His patience and mercy with us!
Prov 11:1 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
Dan 4:37 Those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
Prov 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
Where or when is your biggest problem with pride? What can you do about it?
How do you respond to criticism? How critical are you of others who challenge you?
Ask your mate of best friend to honestly tell you where they see pride in your life. Ask them to tell you every time they see you reacting in pride.
Write down a detailed list of where pride manifests itself in your life. Pray about this every day for the next week.
cto Rev. Dr. JERRY SCHMOYER
Christian Training Organization
Jerry@ChristianTrainingOrganization.org
(India Outreach, Spiritual Warfare, Family Ministries, Counseling, World View)
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