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Dealing with Your Spiritual Pride

Dealing with Your Spiritual Pride

Words of Faith 7-23-18

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2018

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

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Luke 9:46-50

   [46] An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. [47] Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. [48] Then he said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all he is the greatest."

 

       I started to title this installment "Dealing with Spiritual Pride," but I realized that we need to be clear. It is a matter of dealing with our own spiritual pride. We cannot ever really deal with the spiritual pride of others. Such an endeavor is wrapped in its own dangerous place of spiritual pride. But we can deal with this attack in our own lives. Jesus told us how.

     The first step is to take off our spiritual status. This is to become childlike. "Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. Then he said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all he is the greatest."

     In the ancient world a child had no status, rank, privilege or authority. In the culture of Jesus, the child was "the least". He who is least among you, he is the greatest. Jesus really calls us back to basics. Jesus calls us spiritually to take off the haughtiness that comes from the mountaintop experiences. Take off the heavy duty theology. Take off the ecclesiastical titles, the denominational awards, all of that, and just be a child before your heavenly Father.  

   Jesus makes it clear. There is no room in the Kingdom for the sort of pride that the disciples were flashing. No room for grand claims. No room for arguing about who is great, who could have healed the boy with the demon, who is better at ministry or who should be in charge. That is a non sequitur to the Kingdom of God. It is actually anti-Christ. Take all that off. The Kingdom of God that Jesus preached and carried into our presence was defined by the laying aside of authority.

     Paul put it this way in his letter to the Philippians...

   "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

   "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:1-11).

       The call of Christ is to be the servant of all and then not draw attention to that. The number one thing that I look for in leaders that I want to be associated with is servanthood. The sad thing is that the disciples kept arguing about this sort of thing up until the last night. Finally, perhaps in exasperation, he showed them. They had all neglected the duties of a disciple by forgetting to wash the feet of the guests or arranging for that to be done. Jesus got up from the table, took a towel, undressed like a slave would, and started washing feet.

       I think that is what Jesus does among us whenever we get on our high horse. He usually shows us in a gentle but powerful way. It probably breaks God's heart when we give into the attack of pride that comes from the enemy, when we argue among ourselves about who is the greatest or who should be in charge or who is better at some ministry.

         A second step is CONFESSION. As with any sin, we need to confess our spiritual pride before God. "Oh God, when I come face to face with Your grace I notice that you are carrying a towel and a basin and I am horrified that I was arguing over the seats of honor. I confess my unfaithfulness and that I have allowed spiritual pride to wound me and to wound others. It may even require confession to another person if I allowed spiritual pride to divide me from another. You are my brother in Christ. You are my sister in Christ. I confess I was wrong."

       A third step is simply WORSHIP. Worship of the Lord God is the antithesis of spiritual pride. A healing course for us is always to lose oneself in the honoring of God in a way that draws no attention to self.

       Where are you today? Have you seen some warning signs in your own life? It is easy to pick things up in the lives of others but the real truth lies in discovering our own pride that is standing in the way of what God wants to do in us and through us. If the Lord has shown you something that you need to do, do it today.

 

       Father God, teach me to walk in child-like faith. Show me what it is to set aside status and to be humble as Jesus was. I confess my spiritual pride and ask your forgiveness. Heal the wounds that have come from my prideful responses. I worship You Almighty God. In Jesus' name.