PRIDE

[Mitspa]

I was listening to a bible teacher and he made a very good point about pride, that helped me see something about where I have been and where God is trying to take me? He made the point that many of us used to be happy just going to church and hearing about Christ, we loved and worshipped God in simplicity. I know for a minister who has been called this this and that, that often its easy to get into a condition of pride where we expect others to treat us with a certain degree of respect and maybe even admire our person in some way? These things can be very subtle, but they can very much work against the humility God would have us walk in. We often demand certain things in the church, like a place to set or park and can be offended if others don't see "who we are". Often we can be serving in the church for our own selfish reasons and not even see it. The Lord corrected me once by 1 Cor 13....love seeks not its own. I had to admit that much of my service in the church had been for my own purpose and much of my simplicity and joy in the Lord had been stolen away by my own pride.

1Co 13:4 ¶ Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 ¶ Love never faileth:

 

[blue_ladybug]

.seeing a humble person in action can give a prideful person a big lesson in how to act more like Jesus..


The above is a partial reply I gave to a post by MollyConnor in my thread "what's your inner beauty" in the singles forum. I feel it applies here also. Pride makes us vain and conceited,and it is nearly always the cause of our downfalls. I know many prideful people, and I also know many humble people. I have learned lessons from both, and learned how to act more like Jesus from observing both sides. God sees who we are, and how we are, even if we are blinded by pride and arrogance. The prideful person shall not inherit the kingdom of God, but the humble person will gain eternal riches beyond measure.

 

[VioletReigns]

Yes, beautiful lesson Brother Mitspa! And excellent comment, Sister Blue!! Praise God!! \/

Ya know, God often reminds me to "return to my first love" when I start to get out of spiritual synch. Like a sweet nudge on my heart! ♥ I feel spiritual distress coming on when my mind focuses on me for too long. YAY!! Praise God for that.

And back to the Shepherd I run! \/

 

[elf3]

At some point in time I think we all hit the pride "wall". As we grow closer to God and gain more knowledge, that knowledge can come up and bite us. We can begin to think "we are all that". I hit that "wall" a couple times. Fortunately this last time I hit the wall I had this "ninja" to keep putting me in my place. That helped me realize how I was becoming prideful. Now there is actually an opposite that we must beware of also. We can become prideful humble. As in "oh look how humble I am". The humility we need can only come from God and can only be taught to us by God. We need to learn how to pray to God for the correct type of humility we are to have. It's a fine line between pride and prideful humble. I pray that God can teach us all the correct humility shown to us by Jesus.

 

[JFSurvivor]

I was listening to a bible teacher and he made a very good point about pride, that helped me see something about where I have been and where God is trying to take me? He made the point that many of us used to be happy just going to church and hearing about Christ, we loved and worshipped God in simplicity. I know for a minister who has been called this this and that, that often its easy to get into a condition of pride where we expect others to treat us with a certain degree of respect and maybe even admire our person in some way? These things can be very subtle, but they can very much work against the humility God would have us walk in. We often demand certain things in the church, like a place to set or park and can be offended if others don't see "who we are". Often we can be serving in the church for our own selfish reasons and not even see it. The Lord corrected me once by 1 Cor 13....love seeks not its own. I had to admit that much of my service in the church had been for my own purpose and much of my simplicity and joy in the Lord had been stolen away by my own pride.

1Co 13:4 ¶ Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 ¶ Love never faileth:

Thank you sooo much for posting this! I have a REALLY hard time with pride so a lot of these responses have helped.

 

[oldthennew]

recognizing the (fine-lines) definitely shows a sign of a mature, deeper thinking, practicing Christian.

thank you brethren for sharing your beautiful, living experiences and knowledge -
you are giving us all precious hope....

when we are mature enough to dig deep and self-analyze - with no prejudice,
we are on our way....and the (old-man) is in flight-with-tail-tucked-between-legs)

 

[Utah]

Though He was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited,but emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death-even death on a cross.

Pretty much sums it up for me!

 

[Mitspa]

I was listening to a bible teacher and he made a very good point about pride, that helped me see something about where I have been and where God is trying to take me? He made the point that many of us used to be happy just going to church and hearing about Christ, we loved and worshipped God in simplicity. I know for a minister who has been called this this and that, that often its easy to get into a condition of pride where we expect others to treat us with a certain degree of respect and maybe even admire our person in some way? These things can be very subtle, but they can very much work against the humility God would have us walk in. We often demand certain things in the church, like a place to set or park and can be offended if others don't see "who we are". Often we can be serving in the church for our own selfish reasons and not even see it. The Lord corrected me once by 1 Cor 13....love seeks not its own. I had to admit that much of my service in the church had been for my own purpose and much of my simplicity and joy in the Lord had been stolen away by my own pride.

1Co 13:4 ¶ Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 ¶ Love never faileth:

I would add that I knew the commandment to love and really in some ways judged my love walk by comparing myself with other believers. But when God brought the scripture that love seeks not its own, its like, I all of sudden, could see that much of my service had been for my own purposes. It was a correction by the Lord Himself, but He is so wonderful as He deals with us, He always takes us to a better, more peaceful place, even if it stings a little to see some truths about ourselves. In the scriptures pride is related to drunkenness, its so true that when we are drunk with pride we cannot really even see how silly we are before God and man.

 

[JOHN1513]

[SUP]Phil. 2:6 [/SUP]Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
[SUP]7 [/SUP]But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
[SUP]8 [/SUP]And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Your friend
Jeremiah Howell

 

[elf3]

I would add that I knew the commandment to love and really in some ways judged my love walk by comparing myself with other believers. But when God brought the scripture that love seeks not its own, its like, I all of sudden, could see that much of my service had been for my own purposes. It was a correction by the Lord Himself, but He is so wonderful as He deals with us, He always takes us to a better, more peaceful place, even if it stings a little to see some truths about ourselves. In the scriptures pride is related to drunkenness, its so true that when we are drunk with pride we cannot really even see how silly we are before God and man.

Oh don't we love to judge ourselves against others. Na na na na na I know more than you do. Look how much study I do compared to you. Haha I know greek and you dont. WHACK! Ow that hurt. Well it wasn't supposed to tickle. I actually like when God smacks me. Makes me listen more.

I again have to say thank you to my blue"ninja"ladybug and thank you to God for using her to set me straight every time. It's kinda cool because I watch what I say more often. Looking behind my back for my "ninja". I love you blue and thank you so much for the loving way in which you have set me straight so many times.

 

[blue_ladybug]

Oh don't we love to judge ourselves against others. Na na na na na I know more than you do. Look how much study I do compared to you. Haha I know greek and you dont. WHACK! Ow that hurt. Well it wasn't supposed to tickle. I actually like when God smacks me. Makes me listen more.

I again have to say thank you to my blue"ninja"ladybug and thank you to God for using her to set me straight every time. It's kinda cool because I watch what I say more often. Looking behind my back for my "ninja". I love you blue and thank you so much for the loving way in which you have set me straight so many times.

hmmm...seems like I set you straight alot without knowing WHAT I'm setting you straight on..lol.. But you're welcome..I'm always glad to kick butt when I feel it's necessary.. now if only more people on here could watch what they say more often, I believe there wouldn't be so much arguing going on all the time...

 

[elf3]

hmmm...seems like I set you straight alot without knowing WHAT I'm setting you straight on..lol.. But you're welcome..I'm always glad to kick butt when I feel it's necessary.. now if only more people on here could watch what they say more often, I believe there wouldn't be so much arguing going on all the time...

Amen to that!!!

 

[elf3]

We need more threads like this. Where we can have true fellowship in Christ building each other up and way less tearing each other down.

 

[JesusistheChrist]

I don't know...

I'd like to believe that all of the comments that I'm reading here are sincere, but seeing how two of this thread's participants basically rejoiced earlier today at the banning of another forum member, I'm having a hard time swallowing it.

 

[Mitspa]

I don't know...

I'd like to believe that all of the comments that I'm reading here are sincere, but seeing how two of this thread's participants basically rejoiced earlier today at the banning of another forum member, I'm having a hard time swallowing it.

Well thanks... do you have any issues with pride? Any selfish tendencies that hinder you from putting other believers above your own desires?

 

[VioletReigns]

I don't know...

I'd like to believe that all of the comments that I'm reading here are sincere, but seeing how two of this thread's participants basically rejoiced earlier today at the banning of another forum member, I'm having a hard time swallowing it.

GAAAHHH!!!! Who got banned?!? Was it someone who was intigating trouble and spewing venom? Or was it someone who was standing firm in grace for the sake of Jesus?? Ooooh, I hope it wasn't any of my friends.

 

[Angela53510]

This is the verse that always comes to my mind about pride.

"Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall." Prov. 16:18

As far as being humble:

"He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way." Psalm 25:9

"The Lord lifts up the humble;
he casts the wicked to the ground." Psalm 147:6

And this prophecy concerning Jesus, fulfilled in Matt. 21:5:

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your king is coming to you;
righteous and having salvation is he,
humble and mounted on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey." Zech.9:9

Some important words from Jesus to remember on humility:

"I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 18:14

Finally, bringing this post back to pride (original reference - Prov. 3:34):

"But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." James 4:6

AND

"Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5

As for my walk with Christ and pride, well, I prefer to focus on humility as my post shows. The reason being is that pride is a bit too easy and natural for me!

 

[4enlightment]

1 Samuel 2:7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts.

2 Samuel 22:28 You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty (proud, exalted) to bring them low (Humble).

Psalm 35:13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting. When my prayers returned to me unanswered,

1 Samuel 25:41 She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “I am your servant and am ready to serve you and wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

John 13:6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”
7 Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

8 “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

Matthew 23:12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

James 4:6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

Proverbs 3:34 He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.

Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

[JesusistheChrist]

Well thanks... do you have any issues with pride? Any selfish tendencies that hinder you from putting other believers above your own desires?

Here's my personal take on pride:

Over a 22 year span of my life, I worked intermittently at my friend's pizzeria. Every day that I worked there, I watched as my friend poured flour into a large mixing bowl and then added water and a piece of yeast about the size of a clenched fist and mixed it all together. That little bit of yeast or that "little leaven" did its work every single time in that it "leavened the whole lump" or in that it caused the whole batch of dough to "rise up".

I personally believe that God used "leaven" as a type of sin in the Bible because it perfectly represents PRIDE or that which causes us to "rise up" in rebellion against God or to be "puffed up". Yes, I personally believe that PRIDE is at the root of EVERY SIN in that no matter what sin we ultimately commit against God it begins by us exalting our own ways (which are really the ways of Satan which we're yielding to or following) above God's ways. As such, I need to guard myself against PRIDE as much as anybody else does.

Do you want to know why there's so much contention on this forum? Here's why:

"Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom." (Proverbs 13:10)

Yes, contention comes ONLY BY PRIDE and, to me, that speaks volumes. IOW, although I'm regularly involved in all sorts of disputes/debates here myself, I'm involved because I believe that somebody has caused contention by posting something contrary to God's Word or has proudly sought to exalt their ways/Satan's ways above God's ways. As such, I'll seek to then "contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints", but here's the rub:

EVERYBODY HERE believes that the people presenting the opposing arguments are PROUD AND CONTENTIOUS and that they themselves are merely "contending for the faith".

What's the solution, then?

Well, some good, old fashioned genuine humility before the Lord would be as good a place to start as any. Jesus Himself never spoke anything except that which He had first heard His Father speak and He only did that which He saw His Father doing. What would happen if we all genuinely followed suit and did the same? This forum AND THIS WORLD would be a totally different place.

Anyhow, "my own desires", to answer your question, were nailed to the cross a long time ago. As Christians, we're called to live FOR CHRIST and not for ourselves.