Poisonous Pride

Pride is the great enemy of the Christian. Yes, it consumes and directs the hard-hearted, but for those of us who believe it does something far worse. It jeopardizes our witness and gives a false appearance to those who are seeking. Pride motivates us to do things that are not Christ-like and hinders us from doing what brings glory to God. You don't have to look hard to find prideful people (even at church) but I can also look throughout my Bible to find stories that help me realize people have been prideful from the beginning. Pride influenced Adam & Eve to try and be God, Cain to murder his brother, Joseph's brothers to sell him into slavery, and King Saul to resent David so much he would try to murder him.  Each time we succumb to  it's influence we will have to suffer consequences. If we offend others and don't seek forgiveness or we don't attempt to reconcile broken relationships pride will saturate us with a selfish and self-centered agenda. Pride convinces us we are not really sinning, (I am not as bad as so & so) it convinces us we deserve better treatment and impedes us from serving others. Ministries can be infiltrated with people starving for places of prominence and have otherwise capable people listening to flatterers and ignoring honest Godly counseling. Eventually pride will back you into a corner of isolation so that you are not accountable to others, only yourself. Proverbs 29:23 says, "A man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor."  Humility , on the other hand, is pleasing to God and places your life in a position where He can honor you. I strive to show the men of Hope Ministries that we don't get a humble stamp on our foreheads one day and can consider ourselves masters of humility, only by daily intercession of the Holy Spirit within us are we able to strive towards a quality that  Jesus Himself mastered. We can blow it in an instance believe me, I have. God can and will replace prideful people in His kingdom work with those who are truly seeking humbleness, we see it almost daily in the headlines.                                                           Blessings, Dave

Recovery perspective - Because pride is the number one cause of relapse, we must continue to take a daily personal inventory of our lives and adjust where necessary.