We have a proclivity to think of individuals and nations as our adversaries when they present a threat to our personal or national well being. But, I submit, that our greatest adversary is Satan and he makes his assaults from within not without. It is an inside covert operation.
Pride
Pride is presumptuous and self-satisfying. It is estimating ourselves too highly and exaggerating our abilities. We erect myriad illusions about who we are and what we are about. We take credit where credit does not belong and parade around as though we have earned it ourselves. It is our distorted way of playing God in our own little world.
We have all heard people boast of all the things they do not do. What they often omit is what it is they do do. We all do something. Some of us engage in the same acts of others but we do it in a more subtle or different way. We may not drink, but we overeat. We may not murder physically, but we murder spiritually. We may not abuse a child, but we abuse those of a different ethnic group. We may not curse, but we demean and degrade others. Our pride blinds us to our failings. We seem hell bent on making ourselves look good to ourselves and feel good about ourselves and think God is satisfied with us. Some of us have never truly prayed but merely stood in the presence of a god we have created, because we refuse to see ourselves for what we really are. Pride is based in a real desire to be God and to be worshipped.
What does Scripture have to say on the issue of pride?
A man's pride brings him low... (Proverbs 29:23a)
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)
The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee... (Obadiah 1:3)
This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts. (Zephaniah 2:10)
When pride cometh, then cometh shame... (Proverbs 11:2)
Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. (1Timothy 3:6)
Before his downfall a man's heart is proud... (Proverbs 18:12a)
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (1 John 2:16)
Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud. (Proverbs 16:19)
What we so often fail to realize is that we need God to discipline us and draw us closer to Him that we might feel our status as creatures. God is the Creator and we are the creatures. We need God, He does not need us. As Robert Brown points out, We know we need God because even when we strive to be humble, to the extent that we are successful, we become aware of how humble we are, and, regardless of how hard we try, we are unable to avoid the thought that we are "good" because we are so humble. Surely God must be pleased by our humility.
Well, what has happened here? We have become proud of being humble. So then the question becomes does our recognition of this solve our problem? Of course the answer is no, because even when we are aware of this fact, we are in danger of being proud of the fact that we recognize that we were being proud of being humble. Thus, we cannot escape this evil of pride without God's intervention. It is only when we stand in His holy presence do we come to an understanding of who we are and who He is. Satan, God's most formidable enemy, will have us believing we are more than what we are. And, only God can defeat the enemy within: pride.
Rev. Saundra L. Washington, D.D., is an ordained clergywoman, veteran social worker, and Founder of AMEN Ministries. She is also the author of two coffee table books: Room Beneath the Snow: Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances: Homilies that Teach which can be reviewed on her site. Her new book, Out of Deep Waters: My Grief Management Workbook, is expected to be available soon.
You are welcome to visit amen ministries: your soul's service station for spiritual refreshing, soul edification, browse our newly expanded mini shopping mall or review our recommended books you may want to add to your personal library.
Blessings to all!
green cleaning service Park Ridge ..In Corrogue, Celtic mythology helps me live a wonderful life.As... Read More
Since I awoke from my three month coma in August... Read More
As I sit here and ponder my existence my heart... Read More
We are the beneficiaries of the promise God made to... Read More
Water of Enlightenment, Angel of Peace and Harmony for Nature... Read More
Ephesians 4:4-6 indicates that Christians ought to practice one single... Read More
How many of you out there have ever wondered if... Read More
A Tarot card deck typically consists of 78 colorful cards... Read More
Liam says to Joe; "where is your God now, when... Read More
We come into this world alone, we experience physical life... Read More
I have held numerous teleconference workshops where I help individuals... Read More
As more and more alternative and spiritual healings are being... Read More
A magnificent source of life insurance and it's FREE. You... Read More
Among some of us who deem ourselves spiritual, the use... Read More
If you have a longing to connect with something higher,... Read More
Michael Shermer speaks with the energy and passion of an... Read More
How does God see you? Does He like what He... Read More
Connor, a man in his late 40's, has achieved everything... Read More
???Now is the time for all good men to come... Read More
One does not have to live long to realize that... Read More
(Channelled)Roy, what a marvellous job you are doing on your... Read More
Have you heard the saying that; You have a friend... Read More
One of the most frightening things... Read More
I am disturbed by the tendency of some people to... Read More
"We're one, but we are not the same."-Bono, U2Once I... Read More
emergency cleaning services Morton Grove ..One important factor in how we go through life is... Read More
The earth is wrapped in a thin, loose shell of... Read More
Paul is led up a 512 ft. hill, Mars Hill,... Read More
In a recent case study which I also summarized in... Read More
When the body of Christ isn't protected we become vulnerable... Read More
If we don't behave according to a specific church's doctrine,... Read More
When the Bible makes reference to a "yoke" it is... Read More
Woodstock, the watershed event for a generation, had a far... Read More
Before we dwell on the subject of Self Realization we... Read More
We all know that the best laid plans of mice... Read More
Angels, those divine beings of love and light, are here... Read More
Anything can be used for divination; coins, tea leaves, cards,... Read More
The dictionary defines the word forgive as: [to pardon, as... Read More
During moments of helplessness, there is always one thing that... Read More
We know that David did much to stabilize the Kingdom... Read More
The truth revealed as we read about Hazael also reminds... Read More
Eden, the garden of ecstasy is no longer available to... Read More
One of the "loopholes" in my philosophical belief system when... Read More
One of the most difficult barriers... Read More
The story of Cain and Abel stands very close to... Read More
We make sense of our world via the senses. The... Read More
What's the difference? How are we supposed to tell the... Read More
An interesting question arose within a poetry workshop I attended... Read More
The ultimate purpose of dreaming is to provide you with... Read More
In an edition of Reader's Digest, I stumbled upon a... Read More
Spirituality |