PRIDE IN ITS PLACE

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

^1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

I have days when I need to tread cautiously; days when I get enamored with my“busyness” or days when I get ahead of GOD or worse yet, leave him out of the equation.

It is then that I have to pull back a little, maybe find a devotion to read or decompress a little with good input to counterbalance the overextension of activity or“overGregging” things.

Paul had good counsel for those moments and days. He said for us to…

Romans 12:3

…not to think of yourselves as being more important than you are; devote your minds to sound judgment since God has assigned to each of us a measure of faith.

And I will admit it sometimes my judgment is not overly sound. I get a little too caught up in what “I” am doing, a little too enamored with all “I” am accomplishing or have my hand in and lose sight that everything I do, have, say, embrace, manage, or influence have been gifts from GOD. I need to remember I really should be dead.

John 5:30

I can do nothing on my own…

So every now and then I have to give myself a check. I have to look in the mirror and give myself a little narcissism “nudgedown”.

And I will be honest I struggle with that these days more than any craving.

But I know GOD is not a fan of arrogance. He most certainly doesn’t dig pride. And when my pride gets out of balance or out of check, He graciously and lovingly sorts me out and brings me back down to size. Painfully sometimes.

I need it. I need to constantly be looking to put pride in its place.

Max Lucado puts it this way,

“The Bible says, the Lord will tear down the house of the proud. God hates arrogance. He hates it because we haven’t done anything to be arrogant about. Is there a Pulitzer for ink? Can you imagine a scalpel growing smug after a successful heart transplant? Of course not. They are only tools. So are we. We may be the canvas, the paper, or the scalpel, but we are not the one who deserve the applause.”

I so want to be a tool of the LORD. But the enemy wants me to toot my own horn and draw attention. The enemy knows that what feeds my ego.

So I share this insight into me today as a confession of sorts. That is good for me; good for all of us to do in fact.

1 John 1:9

But if we own up to our sins, God shows that He is faithful and just by forgiving us of our sins and purifying us from the pollution…

I have to be on guard for the pollution of pride!

But I am guessing that I am not alone. I am surmising there may be one or two more of you out there who battle with “prideful” moments. So I am glad I could share. Thanks for holding me accountable.

And if you struggle along the same lines, I offer this thought.

When we lose sight of “why” we are doing what we are doing, when the frustration of the challenge or the “atta boys” divert our attention from the FATHER, reset and remember. Everything we do is for one reason and one reason alone; to bring GOD GLORY.

1 Corinthians 6:20

For God has bought you with a great price. So use every part of your body to give glory back to God because he owns it.

And hopefully that will put pride back in its place.

Have a blessed weekend…

I love you all!

Freedom Church

Pastor GDelaney