The Guide Called Pride

One of my classes is studying Philippians. I love, love Philippians. Actually, I realized that I love the part of Philippians that is joyful and encouraging. Come to think of it, I guess that is my attitude toward most of God's Word. Not that I don't love it all, I do because I love Him. I know that He is perfect and good and so is His Word. But when it comes to applying His Word, some parts are definitely easier and more fun than others. When I begin to think that way, God brings me back to the realization that it is not about me. It is not about what is fun or easy. My life is all about bringing Him glory. One of the ways I do that is by being obedient to what He tells me to do or not to do in His Word. Of course, that is impossible for me. But when I am yielded to Him, He does the work through me. I can't obey or have faith or anything without Him doing it through me.

So many times, when reading the Bible, we skim over parts that we have heard alot. A while back, God impressed upon me to read and study the Bible as if I had never read or heard it before. That has been life-changing. Back to Philippians - we are in Chapter 2 this week. I decided to memorize verse 3. "When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourself." NCV. Read that again. Wow! "When you do things" - uh, that pretty much includes everything we do. The NIV says "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit". So for starters, this verse is going to tell us what kind of attitude we need to have and not have when we do anything. Work? Taking care of our children? Dealing with our husband?......did I say "dealing", I meant to say "enjoying". Church? How we treat people who are not easy to love or easy to get along with or just plain get on our nerves? Yep, all of these.

Next it tells us to not let selfishness or pride be our guide. When doing the easy, fun parts of our day or when doing the very difficult parts of our day, we are to make sure that we are not guided by selfishness or pride. I began to think about times that I get angry or upset in different situations. There always seemed to be a way to justify my thoughts or actions, but when it comes down to it, every situation was handled in a wrong way because I was either being selfish or prideful - every time. God tells us to die to our self, not pamper it and make sure that it is treated the right way.

Then He tells us to be humble. Humility comes when we see who God really is and then see ourselves in comparison. The God of the universe compared to an ant. Being in God's presence will make us humble. It is the opposite of pride which is all about me. Once we have an attitude of humility, we are able to give more honor to others than to ourselves. Our natural response is to take care of number one. Don't let anyone tell you what to do. Don't allow anyone to treat you in a way that you don't deserve. Draw the attention to yourself. Complain when things aren't going your way. That is not the kind of life that brings glory to God though. Again it involves dying to our own desires, rights, and will.

When you really meditate on this verse for awhile and look at your life, you will probably find that you don't measure up. I certainly don't. Really, how many people do you know that live like that? How many people have you known in your life who live like that? I know a few now. I have known some in my life. It sounds impossible. It is. But with God all things are possible. If He has told us to live this way, then He expects us to. All we have to do is completely surrender to Him and allow Him to live this life through us. I wrote this verse on several different cards so I could read it over and over throughout the day. My prayer is that God will etch it into my mind and heart so that when I start to think or act in a way that doesn't line up with this verse, I will stop and think. Hopefully, I will make the right choice and let God live this verse through me.

Can you imagine what a different world we would live in if every Christian walked this verse out? God help us to bring You glory.

But You Don't Know What They Did

The past week or so, I have heard so many different people talk about being angry, bitter, unwilling to forgive, etc. Every person I listened to was able to completely justify their anger. Sometimes I heard this from people that I know well - other times from strangers. I was fortunate enough to hear one lady's entire life story (or at least the part that explains why she despises her ex) while waiting in the pharmacy line at Wal-Mart. She was talking on her cell phone. Her two children heard every word of it. That has me thinking, praying and reading about bitterness and holding a grudge. There are just as many angry, embittered people who profess to be Christians. If you were to ask them "According to the Bible, is it wrong to be bitter, hold a grudge, remain angry with a person?" They would probably say, "Yes, BUT you don't know my situation". No, I don't but God does and He says "But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him....put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do." Col. 3:8-10,12-13. When we were saved, we died to our old man. Christ made us a brand new person. From that point on, our desire is to please and obey Him. Do we do it perfectly? No. It is a life-long growth process, but we long for that growth. You may not have had anyone show you how to get into the Word, but all you really need is the Word and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. You don't have to look far for Him. He came to live inside of you when you gave your life to Him. We are without excuse. We cannot say that we are angry and bitter because of what someone else did to us. God will not accept your excuses. The only thing you will answer for is your reaction. We cannot say we didn't know that the Bible said that. Does God really expect us to forgive the way Christ forgave us? Yes. Can we really live a life like that? No, but Christ can live it through us. So, if you are trying to live your life with your heart filled with bitterness or unforgiveness, you will be miserable and God will not use you. He will do His work in spite of you, but you will be spinning your wheels and wasting your life. What is the root of your bitterness? Selfishness and pride. Think about it. They hurt me or mine. God tells us very plainly that we are to die to ourselves. In order for Him to live through us, we must choose to die to our own desires and our own rights. In our anger, we say "I have a right to be treated a certain way" or "they had no right". If Christ is in control of your life, you have no rights. It is all about Him. What then? 1/Is God really in control of your life? If you are not completely different, a new person, then you would need to start here - on your knees seeking God. 2/If you have established that you are saved, but just living far beneath what He has for you - that you are living a life of sin, you need to confess your sin and turn from it. Give Christ the throne of your life. As long as you are holding a grudge, you are the one on the throne because that is not how God does things 3/If God tells you to make things right with someone, OBEY 4/ Start right now getting in the Word. Find out how He wants you to live. Walk every day controlled by the Holy Spirit. When you mess up - confess and turn control back over to Him. I know this is a pretty tough post, but I am just so saddened to see so many Christians living so far beneath what God has for them. He tells us we are to deny ourselves, yet we pet, pamper, defend, and fight for ourselves. Life is short. Don't you want Him to be able to use you to make a real difference that will be an eternal one? You will stand before Him one day. If it was today, would you hear "Well done" or would you find yourself trying to come up with excuses for the way you are living your life. Give Him control and start to really live life. You will find freedom, joy, and peace that is beyond anything you could have imagined. I don't know about you but I will trade my rights for those things any day. Then to have Him use me for His kingdom work - there is no greater joy.