I’ve got a question for you to ponder today, October 23, 2020. Do you give yourself grace? This morning in Zoom Coffee Time with my pastor, he taught a lesson on PRIDE. It was the last of the 7 deadly sins lessons he’s been teaching to our group and it was incredibly humbling. I listened as he shared his thoughts. Instantly, I felt the sting of my own issues with pride as he listed out 7 different ways we can detect what’s really going on in our hearts:
1. Fault finding
2. Harsh or critical Spirit
3. Superficiality
4. Defensiveness
5. Presumption or cavalier attitude towards God
6. Desperation for attention
7. Neglecting others (being exclusive in relationships)
Like you, perhaps…not all of these are weak spots for me. But there are some sucker-punch items listed there that force me to look directly in the mirror of pridefulness. I actually hate those things about myself and I see how they really are a big fat roadblock to being a faithful & obedient follower of Christ.
If not kept in check, pride will totally ruin most things in our lives.
Ironically, there in his big list was never mentioned lying or dishonesty. If you think about it, lying can be a huge form of pride. Hiding a truth about yourself is the opposite of being humble, which never ends well. Like all sin, the consequences are painful.
I love what scripture says about pride in James 4:6 –> “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Recognizing the ugliness of pride but offering the one thing each of us needs most is His grace if we simply humble ourselves and repent of our sin.
I do a jam up job of being hard on myself & others, if I’m being fully transparent. Tell me I’m not the only one to beat myself up for foolish mistakes. Knowing what I know about God, he is the most gracious of grace givers. I could learn a thing or two from His love for me and the mercy He pours out regularly. How can I love others like Christ when I poke around in any of the 7 hints of pride I listed?
That’s a better question, huh?
Can we do the work of God if we are trapped in any of those pride habits? Maybe. Will we be very useful? Probably not as much as if we were freely clean of pride and its reality. I’m so grateful that God has given us a reset button. No matter the brokenness of my error, I can go to Him with a repentant heart and start anew. I can replace my pride with holiness that can only come from Christ.
Let’s show one another grace, like God offers to each of us. Let’s also learn to give ourselves the grace we need to step out of whatever pride struggle hounds us. There’s no humility in hanging onto pride or lording it over anyone else who struggles there.
Remember that.