Pride- deceptive snake
My continual conversations with the Lord lately have been about my internal reactions which always leads back to pride. Pride slithers its way around through our hearts without us even realizing its presence.
Like a snake basking silently by the water's edge, preparing to slide into action, so pride in our hearts waits for an opportunity to rear its ugly head.
Our countenance can show forth pride without us even realizing its presence. When we bristle because someone has said something that we don't like to hear. Many times those immediate feelings are there for our sake so that we become aware of sin's presence in our hearts.
God desires us to be aware of our sin. When we go about life thinking that we are good there is a deep problem in our hearts that needs immediate attention.
Romans 3:10-11
as it is written; " None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands; no one seeks for God.
Righteousness or right standing with God is only available for those who trust in the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
But how often do we think of ourselves as good or worthy because of the things we do?
Satan fell prey to pride and fell from heaven in a flash of light. God had created him with perfect beauty and wisdom and gave him a very important job.
Ezekiel 28:12-
"You were the signet of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God;
every precious stone was your covering,
sardis, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx,
and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle;
and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings.
On the day that you were created they were prepared.
You were an anointed guardian cherub.
I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God;
in the midst of the stones of fire you walked.
You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created,
from the day you were created,
till unrighteousness was found in you.
In the abundance of your trade
you were filled with violence in your midst,
and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
and I destroyed you, ...
you were filled with violence in your midst,
and you sinned;
so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God,
and I destroyed you, ...
Your heart was proud because of your beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
How quickly we exalt ourselves as gods in our own minds or just the opposite we think too little of ourselves which is pride as well.
God has ordained us for His service and given us each specific gifts but we must be ever mindful that pride is lurking in our hearts and as it comes out of its hole, whether we are offended by something someone says to us our about us, we need to take all the internal head-rearings of pride straight to the Lord.
Our human tendency is to blame shift or to look at all that someone else is doing wrong which prevents us from looking deep into the caverns of our own hearts where inevitably pride is lurking.
Romans 12:3
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you
not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think,
but to think with sober judgement,
each according to the measure of faith
that God has assigned.
We have been given grace when we deserved to be ejected from God's presence due to our sinful, corrupt hearts but God made a way for us to be cleansed from all our unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just
and will forgive us our sins
and purify us from all unrighteousness.
We must take to the task hunting for snakes daily. When I was a little girl I would get up each morning during the summer and go on a snake hunt. My success in finding snakes grew as I learned where they hide. We must make an effort to learn the propensity of our own hearts toward sin so that we can route it out by confessing it to the Lord so that He will forgive and purify us.
We should start looking at our internal responses to situations and interactions for this is a prime place where pride lurks and can be found.
When we are irritated, ask the Lord, "What is in me that is causing this irritation." Don't blame shift and say "I can't believe they said that to me."
Why can't you believe that they said that to you? Because we are full of our selves. We think too highly of ourselves most of the time.
When we are entertaining our prideful hearts we are unaware that we are actually enemies of God. God is the only One who is to be exalted above others.
1 Peter 5:5
Likewise, you who are younger,
be subject to the elders.
Clothe yourselves, all of you,
with humility toward one another,
for God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.
but gives grace to the humble.
James 4:6
But he gives more grace. Therefore it says,
"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
Submit yourselves to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God,
and he will draw near to you.
and he will draw near to you.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners,
and purify your hearts,
and purify your hearts,
you double-minded.
Be wretched and mourn and weep.
Be wretched and mourn and weep.
Let your laughter be turned to mourning
and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and he will exalt you.
and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and he will exalt you.
So when our attitudes get knocked out of shape we must ask the Lord what is it inside of me that needs to be addressed. More than likely it is our pride and when we submit ourselves to Him and refrain from judging other's actions toward us but look closely at our own lives, God will give us more grace as we draw near to Him and He will purify us and exalt us with Christ.
His desire is for us to know that we are sinful and wretched so that we will see our need for a Savior.
If we go about our lives thinking that we are fine and that the people around us are all jacked up then we are grossly involved with the attributes and nature of Satan himself.
When we don't seek God we leave no room for God and we are being prideful.
Father, thank you for sending Jesus to reconcile us to Yourself. Thank you for giving us grace and life through Jesus and not giving us what we deserve. We deserve to be cast out of your presence just like Satan but you came down and rescued us from ourselves and for this we are forever grateful.
Help us Lord to do the hard heart work of watching our attitude from the internal perspective of our hearts, always hunting for the snake of pride that is lurking there so that when it arises we can take action and decapitate it making Christ our head!
We need Your grace daily Father and we ask that You would rend the heavens and rain down fresh grace so that we can walk in humbly before You and serve You and not our own ego or pride.
ReplyDeleteWHEN IT FEELS BETTER TO BLAME SOMEONE ELSE
You want to know one of the hardest three-word statements to make? “I am wrong.”
It’s so easy to point out wrong in others. It’s so easy to want it to be someone else’s fault. It’s so easy to get critical and cynical and caught up in our limited perspectives.
But boy is it hard to see our own flaws. Where we went wrong. What we need to own.
I’ve been challenging myself on this. I recently had to correct one of my children for trying to blame someone else for something my child needed to own themselves. I could clearly see the pride, the insecurity, and the fear all wrapped around her blaming words. And why could I see it so clearly?
Because I see it in myself.
Bummer huh?
I had to have a conversation where I explained to my child something I’m learning myself. About blaming. And the dangerous path blaming can take us on.
In most conflicts I have two ways I can choose to travel:
The Path of Pride: I can blame the other person, focus only on their flaws, and refuse to own my part of it. That response will increase my pride and decrease the Lord’s blessing in my life.
The Humble Way: I can honestly assess what I’m contributing to this conflict, admit where I went wrong, and ask for forgiveness. That response will lead to humility and increase the Lord’s blessing in my life.
I see this principle woven throughout the Bible:
James 4:6, “That is why Scripture says: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (NIV 1984)
Proverbs 29:23, “A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.” (NIV 1984)
Matthew 23:12, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (NIV 1984)
I know this. I believe this. So, why do I still find it hard to implement sometimes?
Well, here’s where my head wants to go when I start examining certain conflicts: “But what if it really isn’t my fault? It’s not fair to assign the blame with me when this person did this and this and this.”
But that’s the wrong direction to go. Don’t try to assign the blame. Just own the part you brought into the conflict. When I approach a conflict with a heart of humility, I’ve yet to see where I haven’t added something to the issue.
And if the other person doesn’t own their issues—the Lord will deal with them. (See the verses above.)
There are gifts hidden in the tough stuff of conflict. There is grace and honor to be gained. But I’ll only see those gifts if I stop blaming others and start examining myself.
Dear Lord, I want to follow Your teaching in this. But it’s so hard. I’m mad and frustrated and hurt. The last thing I feel like doing is examining where I am wrong. But I know that’s what I need to do. Will You soften my heart? Will You give me eyes to see beyond my hurt? Will You help me cut through the assumptions and wrong-thinking? I want to honor You in this, I really do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
I love the Humble way; I can honestly assess what I am contributing to the conflict. I often have an internal conflict that the people around me are not aware of. That is the place where God and I hunt for snakes. I see Him guiding me through the debris of my heart upturning stones and peering through the deep grass where pride lurks and He so graciously points out the root of my inner conflict as pride. I am so so thankful! Thank you Angie for sharing! Wonderful things God is doing in you and how He is obviously leading you through the tall grass of your heart as well. I am thankful that we are not on this journey alone but can lean on each other for strength, wisdom and encouragement to run this crazy race!
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