I was doing my bible study this morning (yep, you're gonna be hearing a lot about this bible study... it is so good) and the subject was agape love. Agape love is the kind of love God is composed of. Anyway, what struck me was concerning pride. We all deal with it and there always seems to be an over abundance of it for some reason. I learned something new about it today...
Psalm 10:4 NIV
In his pride the wicked does not seek Him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
I never realized before that it is pride that keeps us from seeking Him. I thought about that for a while and realized that it's our arrogance thinking that we really don't NEED God. I mean we can handle this life, right? We can make good decisions on our own, after all, God gave us a good mind... We pray about the "important" things and we throw a prayer up for our food and for our kids at night (I am so guilty of this) but do we really spend time SEEKING Him? It takes time to get to know someone. It takes effort. It takes prioritizing what's really important to us and all too often God gets bumped for other seemingly more pressing issues.
Unfortunately, whether on purpose or by our failue to see what's really important, we let pride rule over us if we don't humbly seek God's presence on a regular basis. Pride brings with it a myriad of negative consequences. Here are a few:
...it can be our downfall and cause us to be unfaithful to the Lord (2 Chron. 26:16)
...it brings disgrace (Prov. 11:2)
...it can demote us and strip us of our glory (Daniel 5:20)
...it causes deception (Obadiah 3)
...it puts us in captivity (Jer. 13:17)
I want God to expose the pride that tries to hide itself within me. It may be a little painful to deal with (mostly it's just painful to see the negative in myself) but not as painful as letting it remain in my heart and facing the consequences it brings with it. I will purpose in my heart to make more time for the Lord and to bring EVERYTHING that's inside me and lay it before Him. Not that I will perfect this today or tomorrow or even next year, but I will press toward the mark of living a life free of pride...a life FULL of God. I know it will be worth the effort...
1 comment:
Great post!
You know it actually gives me peace to know that pride goes before the fall. In my case, it was how God humbled me. I thought I was doing GREAT, and God allowed me to hit bottom to show me that when my eyes are on me, turns out that I can be quite pathetic and incapable. It was at that point, when I looked up and cried out in the midst of my mire, that He lifted me up in Him!
To this day, pride wants to own me. And just when it starts to get a grasp, I feel myself walking off the Solid Rock. And just as soon as I turn my eyes back to Christ, He sets my feet upon the Rock again.
Oh that I could just always remain humble in Him. Someday...when I am face to face with Him...then I will remain humbled and give Him all the glory all the time!
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