Pride

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Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on July 3, 2012 at 4:43am

Jenny...

I hear the Holy Spirit admonish me for my thoughts and actions all day long and then I have to backtrack. Undoing what I did, retracting what I said, reexamining what my thoughts were. All of that is pride. If I am slow to speak Christ's Name...that is pride. I'm saying, in essence, that I am too proud to let another hear of my relationship with the Lord.

We all need to walk with the Lord in public. Let others see how blessed we are to be Christians.

Rita

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Permalink Reply by Jenny on July 3, 2012 at 9:57am

thanks Rita, 

do these thoughts ever lessen in this life?

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Permalink Reply by Rita Cullimore on July 3, 2012 at 11:14am

Jenny...

I think they do lessen as we grow in Christ and as we allow the Holy Spirit to renew our minds. We have to open our minds(souls) for the training that the Holy Spirit gives us. We need to accept that training. As we grow in the Lord, we understand more and more why  He is training us in the manner that He is. As we understand how pride works and the way it harms us, we tend to let loose of it. Do we ever accomplish it? I don't know! I've been working on it for years and sometimes I think I haven't learned a thing!

I think the more conscious we are of the Holy Spirit, the more we grow in the right direction.

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Permalink Reply by Jenny on July 3, 2012 at 1:07pm

thank you! 

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Permalink Reply by David Samuel Milumba on July 9, 2012 at 3:40am

I am in agreement with sister Rita. Thats why we need the guidance of the Holy Spirit without him we can never win over pride. Pride is one of the most nasty sins, it is this very sin that brought down the devil, only the Lord can help us to over come it.

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Permalink Reply by Lina on July 10, 2012 at 9:55pm

Sister, we all are victims of this pride every once in a while.  Sometimes, our vision of SELF clouds our view of the truth. We all have to struggle with it, but without the grace of God and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we cannot overcome it.  One good thing though (in my opinion) is the acknowledgement of this weakness and determination to overcome it.

We say and do things which we regret later on.  If we offend anyone in the process, we repent and ask the person for forgiveness and make conscious effort not to repeat the same mistakes.

As children of God, let the people around us, see God in us through our actions and the way we comport ourselves. Let us try to let go of SELF and focus on God.  It is not easy but the Holy Spirit will guide us tthrough our efforts.

Blessings!

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Permalink Reply by Jenny on July 11, 2012 at 7:44am

"we all are victims of this pride every once in a while"

i am a victim of pride 20-30 times a day (hard to estimate) which worries me. 

this is why i wonder if it lessens over time

thanks for your reply!

jenny

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on July 13, 2012 at 2:48pm

Jenny,

A number of years ago I was at a conference in a prayer meeting. During this meeting I had a vision. In this vision I saw a beautiful vase when all of a sudden a big hammer smashed the vase to pieces. Then a funny looking man appeared and started super gluing the vase back together again. Once again the hammer appears and smashes it to pieces. Then comes the funny looking man with super glue … The cycle continued for several rounds. Then I recognized that the vase represented my pride. The hammer was in God’s hand and He was smashing my pride to pieces. The funny looking man was me attempting to put my pride back together only to see God do His thing again and again. Pride, at least for some of us, is a lifelong battle. There are times when we are getting along well and then, for some reason, pride begins to crop up and become an issue that has to be dealt with once again. I think as long as we live in the sinful flesh it will be a battle, but the victory is secure in Jesus as He promises to finish the work He began (Philippians 1:6)

 

Lord Bless,

LT

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Permalink Reply by Jenny on July 15, 2012 at 9:22am

thank you for sharing this, what a useful visual!

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Permalink Reply by Colby on July 13, 2012 at 3:50pm

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider
others better than yourselves" (Phil 2:3).

 

Jenny,

 

The Bible tells us not to be puffed up with pride in ourselves.  If we are faithful to the Gospel of Jesus, then we must admit that many of our thoughts and choices are clouded by our pride and prejudices.  Pride causes us to forsake the Lord, to be withdraw or separated from God, which is sin.  Coming to terms with this reality, of our brokenness, through critical self-examination, requires humility.  

 

Humility, the opposite of pride, is a key Christian virtue.  Humility grounded in the love of God propels us to see beyond our own small and selfish purposes to the larger purposes of God and the interests and needs of others.  We cannot just say we love others.  So many people just say that they love without really loving. 

 

The Apostle Paul is a case in point.  Although God had chosen him to do a great work as the apostle to the Gentiles, Paul was always self-effacing.  He went from describing himself early in his Christian ministry as "least among the saints" to "chief among sinners" as he approached the end of his life.

 

Jesus always linked following him to his humility and to his suffering.  Paul makes this clear when he writes in
Philippians 2:3-8:

 

• Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, 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. 

 

Paul says that Jesus was on top of the heap, but he went to the bottom; he was God, but he became humble and suffered as a servant. That's how we're to follow him.

 

When we act out of humility, God works through us. Our purposes and God’s purposes can be aligned.  The next time you have thoughts that are taking you towards pride, conceit or vanity, put them out of your mind.  Recall the examples of Jesus and Paul and the wise words of C.S. Lewis.  In Mere Christianity , he wrote, “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.” 

 

Blessings and peace in Christ Jesus,

 

Colby

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Permalink Reply by Jenny on July 15, 2012 at 9:25am

thank you for this! 

"Paul says that Jesus was on top of the heap, but he went to the bottom; he was God, but he became humble and suffered as a servant. That's how we're to follow him." Wowzer. 

Lord help us to follow You in this way!

jenny

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