Pride Comes Before...

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...

The Pursuit of Love

God has me on a quest to pursue His love. Not just know about it or recognize it in others but for me to be consumed by it, overtaken completely...dare I say become it? If God is love and He gave all He had to Christ who, in turn, gave all He had to me...isn't it possible for us to be love in flesh? It's a goal worthy of pursuit.

I have recently joined a new church and am so glad we did. These people love people like I have never seen before. I felt like I had been there for years. Also, unfortunately, I realized how love starved I was. I have been soaking it up at every opportunity. Also, instantly I desired to become a person that made others feel as loved as I felt when I walked through those doors... welcome, accepted, loved. Isn't that what we (Christians) are supposed to make people feel like all the time? Wow, how convicting to realize how far off the mark we are. At first I felt defeated facing the enormous task of loving like He loves, "I've tried this before" I thought... but this time is different. I wasn't in an atmosphere of true love the time I tried to study love before. I hadn't seen it in action. I attended a church and they are great people, but there were aires about many of the people there. I can't even put my finger on it, it wasn't that they didn't love, but something was holding everyone back from feeling completely and unconditionally loved. I didn't see it while I was in it because it felt normal. Once there was a comparison, though, I was forced to see it and deal with the issues holding me back from loving the way He loves.

I just want God... I want all He has to offer. I want to know Him as well as is humanly possible. I want to express who He is to others. The Bible says that I do this by loving... it's a tall order for sure, but through Christ I can do all things.