From the Pastor

We have all heard the expression, “Pride comes before a fall.” Or, as Solomon wrote in the Proverbs “Pride goes before destruction.” We say that to mean someone should be very careful not to take too much credit for his achievements, but rather acknowledge that others were also involved or that it may have happened anyway without that person’s input. Pride grips even the most unsuspecting person. It can creep up on you and gradually even before you realize it is there.

Pride is such a unique thing in our lives. It can be bad when it interferes with our relationship with others. But it can also be a good thing.

A clear example from Scripture of its bad influence and consequences is that of King Nebuchadnezzar recorded in the book of Daniel. This king had all the world could offer, power, fame, fortune, influence and many people at his side to his bidding or just to be there when he needed company. He declared that it was his own intelligence, his own skills that had gotten him where he was. Then the Lord humbled him. One day he went bezerk. Stark raving mad. No one understood what happened. The law of the land said he was king for life, so what could they do?  Because of the nature of his madness, they led him out of the palace to live in the wild and placed his second in command in charge of the kingdom. It took him seven years to finally confess to God his arrogance and beg His forgiveness. When he did the Lord restored him to his place of prominence again. This time he ruled with humility toward God and took no credit for himself ever again.

Perhaps you have experienced this type of selfish pride. Be careful. God may have to humble you as well. Learn to give credit where credit is due and not claim it all for yourself. There is no such thing as a self-made man or woman. We are all where we are today by the oversight, the guidance and the will of God. Remember that.

But there is the side of pride that is good and proper. That is when we acknowledge that what we can do, the things we accomplish are from God and He has chosen to use us to complete a task. This is an unselfish from of pride. It is pride in a job well done by the guidance of God. Paul shows us the difference in Galatians 6. First he tells us that we have a responsibility to help one another in need, whether it is physical or spiritual. But when we do we must not take pride in the fact that we are able to help. The ability to help comes not from us, but from God. Be careful, lest you fall, is the warning given. At the very time you may be helping a fellow saint overcome a sin, you may fall into the sin of pride! However, if we stop to take an evaluation of the situation and find that we are simply satisfied that a job was well done and that good came out of it that should give us a sense of pride. That is not selfishness. It is gratitude, really, that God was able to use you in that situation. He closes his discussion by reminding us that each of us is responsible for our thoughts and actions before God, not before other people.

How do you measure up in the matter of pride? Has it gripped you and given you the idea that you are better than others? Has it given you the thought that you accomplished all that has happened in your life? Watch out! You may be setting yourself up for a fall.

Hopefully, you and I can heed the instruction of Paul and stop comparing ourselves to others and instead check ourselves against the standard of God. Is it selfishness or is it satisfaction that God was able to use me?

Pastor Ken