These six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19
Our pastor's sermon yesterday was on pride, the first sin hated by God, listed in the verses above. In thinking about pride, I remembered the following passages in C. J. Mahaney's book Humility: True Greatness. I know I've used some of these in former blog posts, but they are worth repeating. Scripture is clear that pride is deeply rooted in our being, so the question is not if pride exists in our hearts, but how pride is manifested in our lives.
"Pride is when sinful human beings aspire to the status and position of God and refuse to acknowledge their dependence upon Him. Charles Bridges once noted how pride lifts up one's heart against God and 'contends for supremacy' with Him. That's a keenly insightful and biblical definition of pride's essence: contending for supremacy with God, and lifting up our hearts against Him." p. 31
"Pride takes innumerable forms but has only one end: self-glorification. That's the motive and ultimate purpose of pride - to rob God of legitimate glory and to pursue self-glorification, contending for supremacy with Him. The proud person seeks to glorify himself and not God, thereby attempting in effect to deprive God of something only He is worthy to receive. No wonder God opposes pride. No wonder He hates pride. Let that truth sink into your thinking." p. 32
"Jonathan Edwards called pride the 'worst viper that is in the heart' and 'the greatest disturber of the soul's peace and sweet communion with Christ'; he ranked pride as the most difficult sin to root out, and 'the most hidden, secret and deceitful of all lusts.'" p. 34
No comments:
Post a Comment