As a human, I struggle with pride. Truth be told, so do you. Pride is the thing that got Satan thrown out of heaven. It was a pride that led to jealousy and greed. Satan wanted God's power. He wanted to be the boss. He wanted to be God. He failed. He never will be God, but he continues to deceive our human minds and hearts because he knows we have that tendency to do just as he did; he knows we also want to be our own boss and play God. We can try, but we will always fail, just as Satan did.
So what is this inherent struggle with pride? It is a spiritual battle that is bigger than we could ever imagine. It is a daily battle. A healthy dose of pride in things that are good and right can quickly turn into an overdose of entitlement. We can choose to follow our feelings, our intellect and the world, and soon be embedded into the fabric of every emotion that tells us we should be proud to have autonomy in any area of our life that we perceive to make us or others happy. What may have initially been innocent can turn into a power struggle and we want to win at all costs.
In short, pride that is used in the wrong way is like a twin sister to following our own selfish desires, regardless of what God says about the matter. Pride tells us we can make our own rules, because, after all, aren't we the boss of our own life? We do make our own choices, but we have to live out the consequences of those choices. Happiness is not always at the end of this fallacious rainbow that we have concocted. There is seldom a pot of gold in our future as consequences play out in the lives of those of us who try to play God. As a matter of fact, playing God can never end well. It will likely get us thrown out of that which was good and leave us suffering the consequences of our pride. Satan roams the earth looking for those whom he can devour. I can often identify with feeling like I've been his main course for many a meal. It could have been avoided if I had not let pride be my guide. Indeed, my way is often a result of being tempted and devoured by Satan.
In contrast, the bible teaches us that we should boast only in that which glorifies the Lord Jesus. Whatever we do that is good can only be attributed to His grace and the power we have through His Holy Spirit. Daily surrender and dying to our selfish desires means that we can wave the banner of Jesus with the right motives, but we cannot take any credit for what He does in and through us. There is a fine line sometimes, as our human nature struggles with the need to be significant and accepted. We can easily start to feel "accomplished", when we should be careful to put on the armor of God daily, lest we become swallowed up in our own accomplishments. Putting on God's armor, our intentional act of arming ourselves daily with His truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation and Word, and utilizing prayer to help us resist the temptations of Satan, is key to helping us fight the daily spiritual battle and become victorious in living a life that glorifies Christ.
I am aware that this type of talk sounds mysterious to so many. It is mysterious because it is foreign to those who do not know God or study His Word. I don't say that as a condemnation. I say that as an awareness that God provides wonderful resources and tools for us to resist the temptations of Satan, for us to resist pride and choose humility, for us to die daily to our flesh and put on Christ. That translates into living a life that honors Christ and obeys His teachings, a life that "gets to" follow God - not one that "has to" follow some legalistic rules. It is in that truth that we can learn to resist the lies and temptations that bombard us. We can appropriately utilize pride to boast in Jesus, to be bold in and for Him.
And that leads me to another thing that has been happening to Bill and I for years in ministry. To many onlookers, especially if they don't take time to talk to or know an individual, boldness can be mistaken as pride. My husband will be the first to tell you that he struggles with pride, but he will also be the first to boast only in Jesus and continually pray that God helps him surrender to humility. But, is he bold? You bet your sweet bippy he is! He is a New York Italian - not an excuse, but definitely a revelation! Every place we have been in ministry, we have experienced judgment of his bold personality. If they could only see his family and fellow New Yorkers, they may begin to understand that he is a bit like a church mouse compared to them…lol. Anyway, all that to say that he has been severely mis-characterized for his boldness. It just happened again recently and it was extremely vicious this time. It's not new to us, but it is hurtful. We can only view it as spiritual warfare. He was accused of being prideful, among other serious accusations, but I have watched my husband respond, yet again, with great humility in the face of criticism. Honestly, I wanted to respond in a way that would make my Hatfield ancestors proud of their spirited descendant - but I quickly realized my fleshly reaction was a bit prideful and would be just what the enemy wanted. I resisted the temptation to respond and put this guy in his place. I resisted the temptation to set the matter straight. I surrendered it to God, just as my husband already had, and trust that He will fight for us. Bill took the proper steps to meet with this individual and allow him to direct his criticisms to him in person and aim for reconciliation. That, by the way, is the biblical way to deal with conflict. I don't know what this person's motives were to do and say what he did, but he made sure he did it in a very public way and he has never even talked directly to Bill. I do know one thing. Once anyone takes the time to talk to and know the person who is behind my husband's boldness, they will see Jesus in him, because he boasts about Jesus all day long and starts afresh with each new day. There, I got that off my chest!
I know this has been lengthy, but that's no surprise to anyone who reads what I write and listens to me "talk out loud" through my writings. God put this subject on my heart today and I just wanted to share it. Pride seems to be all over the news these days. Let's make sure it is used appropriately. When Jesus and the disciples went to the Mount of Olives, before Jesus was seized for crucifixion, He gave the disciples an instruction to "Pray that you will not fall into temptation". What did they do? They fell asleep. I think Jesus is urging us today to also, "Pray that you will not fall into temptation". I don't want to fall asleep and be oblivious that Jesus wants us to be bold for Him. I don't want to take pride in anything but Jesus Christ. I don't want to be tempted by Satan to follow the crowd. I want to do exactly what Jesus wants me to do. I want to pray and resist temptation. He will show me how to do the rest. He will show us all if we can surrender our own pride and put on the armor of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment