Reading Dark Night of the Soul has been really great so far. It honestly allows a deep side of thinking, conviction, and change. A big thing we have to realize is that we're sinners. When allowing the devil to play mind games with us and run to his playground, we're no longer wanting to rid ourselves of sin and temptation. Along with sin, we seem to have a lot of pride more often than not. Now, pride may not be how we see things, but it's sneaky and can truly break you apart, "there often comes to them, through their imperfections, a certain kind of secret pride, whence they come to have some degree of satisfaction with their works and with themselves" (Book 1, Chapter II). Take a look at Ezekiel 29:9-10, "The land of Egypt will become a desolate wasteland, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD. "Because you said, 'The Nile River is mine; I made it,' I am know the enemy of both you and your river..." The Nile River was Egypt's pride and joy, a life giving river cutting through the middle of the desert. Rather than thanking God, however, Egypt declared, "The Nile River is mine!" We do the same when we say, "This house is mine." Or, "I did it by myself." Sometimes we take for granted what God has given us, thinking we have made it for ourselves. Of course, we have put forth a lot of hard effort, but God supplied us with the resources, abilities, and opportunities to make it happen. Tempted to pat yourself of the back? Why not give God some praise instead?
I commented on Emma Kate and Clabo's post.
I completely agree with you man. Pride is one of the most conniving of sins used against us. Sometimes even the way we look at our Christianity and relationship with God can be a place where pride can enter in. It just comes to show how important it is to say how good God is instead of how good we are.
ReplyDeleteVery true. Sometimes we don't even realize we're prideful. We assume the prideful ones are those who boast and are constantly trying to be better than everyone else, when really we are all prideful at times. Whenever I am about to lead worship, I pray that God would use me and use my voice for His glory. If I don't remind myself of how I got to where I am then it's easy to feel proud when in reality it's all thanks to God.
ReplyDelete