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| (Linda and me, with Payne Theological Seminary students) |
God is opposed to the proud,
but gives grace to the humble.
James 4:6
Those are strong words! In areas of pride, God is against us. Pride in us hinders others from experiencing God's love, mercy, and grace.
C.S. Lewis once wrote that the true Christian's nostrils must be constantly attuned to the inner cesspool. That cesspool includes pride.
Do I, do you, have ungodly pride in your heart? In my praying time yesterday I was bringing, before the Lord, some areas of pride that are within my heart, and asking God to remove them.
Michael Brown, in Revolution in the Church: Challenging the Religious System with a Call for Radical Change, provides a checklist of potential evidences of pride. If you have a pointy finger, aim it at yourself as you read these. If the shoe fits, confess and turn from the prideful attitude.
- You are accountable to no one.
- You think you are “the one”—that your church, your ministry, your anointing or your teaching is the necessary ingredient for true revival or evangelism or growth.
- Your opinion is always more important than the opinion of others.
- You are able to find sin in the lives of others but not in your own.
- You are quarrelsome.
- You find it difficult to be a team player.
- You are always right about everything.
- You are slow to repent.
- You find it difficult to say, “I’m sorry,” without defending yourself or blaming others.
- You refuse to take help.
- You are unteachable.
- You are unable to recognize others’ accomplishments or rejoice in their successes.
- You are unable to say, “I’m hurting; I’m in trouble.”
- You never reverse your path when wrong, but make only minor adjustments.
- You always think, “This message is for someone else, not me.”
- You fail to realize when God is trying to get your attention, when He is correcting you, when He is judging you.
