March 26, 2010

Ugliness of Pride


Ouch! This one hurts and hits SO CLOSE to home!

Actually, I was unaware of how much of this ugly sin was still in my heart ~
I really thought I had made great strides forward in this area!

Pride ~ Unfortunately, none of us is immune!
We all suffer from the same malady.

Simply put ~ it's SIN.

The first sin was all tied up with pride ~ "...You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:5b The Devil tempted Eve in the Garden with this thought ~ to be as gods. Just eat and it will come true! Oh how tricky the Devil is! He had previously fallen in the very same sin ~ he desired to be worshipped as the King of Kings was ~ this was his downfall. We all struggle with the same thing he did ~ we want to take glory for ourselves.

Over the years in my role as Wife and now Mother, I have allowed pride to reside unchecked in my heart. It is a constant battle to keep it at bay and subdued. How often have I thought to myself ~ "No, I can't welcome them into my home ~ it's not clean enough, new enough, orderly enough ~ they will see my imperfections!"

How foolish! We are called to give HOSPITALITY ~ not provide ENTERTAINMENT ~
that's a good one to ponder for awhile! :)

"Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me." Matthew 25:40b

To my shame, I have also had moments of thinking that I was superior in my Mothering methods, my home cleaning abilities, my cooking skills ~ you name it, I probably thought I was better at it than most! As Christians we are called to live humbly before our God and fellow man. I was doing the exact opposite ~ exhalting myself instead of abasing myself.

"Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18 "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look,..." Proverbs 6:16-17a
According to this passage of Scripture, my pride is and ABOMINATION to the Lord!

OH. DEAR. ME.

Let's think for a moment about a king who lived in Old Testament times. By the world's standards he had everything going for him. He had built a magnificent kingdom and thought it was all the work of his own hands. He took the glory to himself. Consequently, God removed not only his kingdom, but his sanity as well! King Nebuchadnezzar is the king of whom I speak. This entire story can be read in the book of Daniel chapter four. I would encourage you to take the time to read it ~ it's amazing to see how God dealt with him and how he repented in the end. Powerful story!

Everything we have ~

EVERYTHING. WE. HAVE.

~ is DIRECTLY from HIS hand.

ANY good found in me is because my Glorious Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, lives IN me! What a wonderful thought! All my "righteousnesses" are as filthy rags ~ it tells us that fact very clearly in the Bible. (Isaiah 64:6)

We must never take any glory to ourselves.

We must always live in a state of humility and recognition that
ALL IS OF THE LORD ~
the very next breath we take is from HIM!

Oh yes, and while we are at it, there is something else ~
"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others."
Philippians 2:3-4

How wonderful it would be if we were all to live in such a way ~ can it be done? Only with His power is this possible...as we continually bring it before HIM in prayer. When we least expect it, and often seemingly from way out of left field, those old thoughts will creep in. That is the time for battle ~ as we tell our children ~ that is the time to send an "arrow prayer" up to the Lord. Take a moment to send up a quiet and quick prayer for help or grace in order to be obedient to God's Word ~ "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exhalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled." II Corinthians 10:5-6 We all are equals before God and none of us should think more highly of ourselves than we ought. (Romans 12:3)

"Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality." Romans 12:10-13

Might the Lord help us, for our good and His glory, to win this battle. It is one we must fight daily until the glorious day that He takes us HOME to be with Him forever! Until that day, we must constantly battle these thoughts of superiority and subdue them with the TRUTH that we are created for the Glory of God alone to be useful instruments in His hand. As we prayerfully consider these things, He will give the grace day by day to live our lives accordingly.

Have I "arrived"?

OH. NO!

Definitely not!

BUT, God is all sufficient and HE lived that perfect life I could never live and died to pay the penalty I could never pay. How WONDERFUL to rest in HIS finished work! One day at a time ~ WITH the Lord. ALL things are possible. We are all works in progress. The longer I am a Christian, the more I see the ugliness of my sin and my need of the Saviour. How beautiful it is to belong to HIM and to trust in HIS Righteousness ALONE!

"And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God and the Father by him." Colossians 3:17



**UPDATE**
You might like to also read the poem "Dying to Self" which has been a great blessing to me over the years ~
one day at a time...WITH the LORD! :)

16 comments:

Heather said...

Great post, Camille.
I recently read in Beth Moore's book, Praying God's Word, that pride is not the opposite of low self-esteem but of humility. We can have low self-esteem and still be proud! It's about where our focus is. If we put all our focus on how terrible we are, that's just as prideful as thinking highly of ourselves. Too much "self-focus" robs God of our humble adoration for Him.
Pride definitely masquerades differently for different people.
Thanks for another reminder to keep it in check today!

Love, Heather

Christa said...

Hi Camille,
Thank you for writing on this. I am so guilty of this sin everyday! It's only by God's grace that He doesn't strike me down at those moments. It's such an ugly sin because we are putting ourselves above everything when in reality we are nothing without Christ. There is so much more I could share on this topic.
Thanks again my dear sister in Christ,

Christa

Nadine said...

What a wonderful message and a great reminder for all of us.
Thank you for sharing!

Blessings!
~Nadine

Mouse and Magoo said...

Lovely post.

I have trouble with pride sometimes too :)

Megham

Lady Farmer said...

What a wonderful post, Camille! One I surely need to hear and be reminded of ~ often! Thank you so much for it. I will be pondering this throughout the day and days to come.
Blessings!

Camille said...

Heather ~ I really appreciate your input here...you've added to the post greatly. Oh yes, I agree ~ the opposite of pride IS humility! We must have a right view of ourselves AND the LORD in all of this! I like what Robert Murray McCheyne (young preacher from long ago) said ~ "One look at self and TEN looks at Christ"! THAT is where our focus ought to be.

Christa ~ Oh yes, there is SO much to this topic, isn't there?! The length of this post reflects some of that...it was hard to know when to quit. ;-) A little "side note" ~ I could tell so many things I am ashamed of, but will refrain ~ this is only one of them. We moved into our current home just over 15 years ago and thought of it as a "stepping stone" to something better. Oh how merciful the Lord is with us!! He would have been perfectly just in stripping it off of us never to allow us another home again ~ EVER! But, here we are so many years later with a VERY different perpective on our home and where we live. How wonderful that God does NOT reward us according to our sin ~ His GRACE and MERCY abound toward us!

Nadine ~ Thanks so much for your encouraging words...it's a blessing! :)

Meghan ~ What a blessing the Lord is teaching you while you are so young...how beautiful to see HIS hand in your life! Remain teachable...it is lovely! :)

Raeann ~ Oh how wonderful that God gives us His Word and HIS SPIRIT to help us in all these things...what a blessing to belong to HIM! :)

Have a wonderful weekend!
With Love,
Camille

TRUTH SHARER said...

This was so well said and yes, none of us is immune to pride. It creeps in where we least expect it. UGH! Will I ever be done with it this side of heaven?

Abase. I need to.

Love your blog! Such a joy to come here!

Choosing Joy, Stephanie
JESUS ONLY in 2010

Camille said...

Stephanie ~ You are right..."it creeps in where we least expect it"! How true! No, we won't be done with it before we reach Heaven, but day by day with the Lord's help and grace it can be subdued more and more. How wonderful to be HIS! Thanks for your sweet encouragement!

Blessings,
Camille

Farming On Faith said...

Oh it is so true. It scares me to death. I am constantly praying~" Oh~God for give me for that prideful thought~I am nothing without you." Seems like I pray it daily!
Great devotion~Sister!

Sharon said...

Oh Camille!

Thanks you for such a wonderful and encouraging post! I love it. Such a good reminder. I too have gotten pirdeful about things and like you are ashamed, I am forever praying for the Lord to show me the things that I need to change to be more like Him. Oh how we need our Savior!!!

I just love Philippians 2:3-4 I also like to add verse 5: Have this mindset in you which is also in Christ Jesus. These verses Michael and I leanred while going through pre-marital counseling years ago. They are engraved on our hearts :)

Thanks you for being ushc a beautiful servant of the Lord!

Love,
Sharon

Sharon said...

woops! That should be such :)

Camille said...

Carrie ~ What a great place to be...in constant need of the Saviour! So precious!! :)

Sharon ~ Oh I can totally relate! How wonderful that HE doesn't leave us to ourselves and gives us daily what we need to follow HIM ~ Himself! :)

Love to you both!
Camille

Wanting What I Have said...

Camille,
How interesting and perfect the Lord's timing is. I just finished a "practice" softball game. Despite being at all but one practice, I "warmed the bench" for over half the game while women who never once came to a practice, etc. but are more naturally skilled in this sport, played the entire time. I left with my pride wounded and my heart feeling rather brat like...and then came home and got to read this post. And it was a bit of a reality check. Thank you for your honesty and transparency. I love and appreciate you. Thank you for your dear reminder. Blessings to you, my friend and sister in Christ.

Camille said...

J ~ You are a sweetheart! How precious that the Lord knows what we need! Thanks for your honesty here ~ oh how quickly we can get our pride wounded hey? I *love* the poem "Dying to Self" ~ you will find it under the label in my sidebar "poems" and is it ever GOOD!! Do I struggle?? OH YES! But God is greater and able to help us each step of the way ~ how WONDERFUL to belong to HIM!!

Have a lovely evening!
Love,
Camille

Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

Excellent post! I don't think there is a person on this planet who doesn't struggle with this, including myself. Like you, I want it rooted out of my life. It is a life-long process. Praise God for His mercy and grace along the way!

Camille said...

Dear Jackie ~ Oh you are so right! We must have HIS grace and mercy all along the way!! What a blessing that HE does not leave us to ourselves!

Have a lovely day!
Love,
Camille