How did we ever get so far from what God wanted for us? Why did we ever think that we were good enough to manage our own fate?
There is a sin that is so prevalent that it has become a matter of pride rather than something to be acknowledged as evil. That sin is pride.
We take pride in our work, our appearance, our intellect, our home, our car, our accomplishments and so much more. Somehow we think that it all exists because of us and that we are entitled to it and more.
Pride isn’t something good, it is evil. It is setting yourself higher than others. It is saying that I am better than you and you can tell by looking at all that I am. I am good and you, not so much.
It is because of our pride that we turn our back on God. We think we have got all that it takes to win at life.
I wonder if the ones who are so proud of themselves ever think that other people are thinking that they are even better?
All of the things that I mentioned above are things that can be lost. Fortunes can be made and fortunes can be lost. Homes, looks, cars, work, intellect and accomplishments can, in the end, come to nothing. At best, others will have better homes, cars, etc. and there is not a thing that anyone can do about it.
Trusting in yourself to the exclusion of God is not going to save you in the end. At the end of your life, you (and everyone else) will face God’s judgement.
Would the God who made the universe and everything in it be amazed at what type of car you drive? Would that same God think much of your house when his home is heaven? How does your intelligence match up to his?
If we are at all wise, we will honor God and work for his purposes and not for own. That kind of wisdom comes only from acknowledging the sacrifice of Jesus, accepting his gift of salvation from sin, knowing God as holy and asking him to do his work through you. It means understanding that nothing we do on our own is worthy of praise, it is the gift that Jesus gave the world that is so worthy.
If you do so seek him with sincerity, he will answer. You will be saved from the wrath of his judgement. Pride will surface again, it always does, but you will know it for a sin. You will know that it is something to avoid and that, if you fall into its trap, you should repent and walk away from it.
God loves those who are humble and has no use for those who are full of pride. Jesus, himself, came as a humble man to show us how to live as God wants us to do. We are to stop following the world and instead follow Jesus and live by his example.
Galatians 6:14
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.