October 24, 2018
The Problem with Pride
When we are full of ourselves, there’s no room for God. Think about it! When we are full of ourselves, there’s no room for God. How do I know when someone is full of himself? I know because I see him playing the comparison game. He’s like, “Thank God I am not a sinner like everyone else, especially like that guy over there!”
Why do we compare? Because it’s easier to feel value in ourselves if we compare our good qualities to their bad qualities. Right? We compare our strengths to their weaknesses. We lift ourselves up, by pushing others down. Phil’s not the only one who does it. We see it all the time, right? “Look what that woman is wearing. I would never be caught dead in that. Like, why didn’t someone tell her before she left the house, ‘Girl, that is not a good look for you.’”
Maybe for you, it’s fault finding: You’re an expert on everybody else’s faults. Why? Because it’s easier to focus on them, then address the faults in your own life.
Maybe for you, it’s not fault finding, it’s attention seeking. “Hey, everybody, look at me. Look at how many likes I get on Facebook. My Instagram posts are killin’ it.”
And you want to know who the worst group is when it comes to comparison? It’s parents. It goes like this: “Like, Babe, I know we’re not perfect parents, but, like, John and Michelle’s kids are crazy. Might as well just put ‘em in prison right now – ‘cause that’s where they’re headed!”
Yeah, we lift ourselves up by putting others down. And do you know what happens next? You know the weird thing? Instead of seeing all the good things in our life as a gift from God, we begin to see ourselves as the gift to God.
Instead of “Thank You, God, that I’m part of a church where I see You move every single week,” it’s “God, I showed up today, You’re welcome!”
Instead of “Thank You, God, for my wonderful family, my two beautiful children,” it’s “God, I brought my kids to church today, You’re welcome!”
Instead of “Thank You, God, for my job and my paycheck,” it’s “God, I brought my offering envelope today, You’re welcome!”
You understand what I’m saying? Instead of seeing all the good things in our life as a gift from God, we begin to see ourselves as the gift to God. “I’m a child of God, I’m doing all the right things – You’re welcome!”
And I wonder how many of us think we’re a little bit better than we really are? I wonder how many of us think we’re stronger than we really are? Morally? Spiritually?
Maybe you say, “Well, I go to church. I read my Bible. I least know how to spell the word tithe.”
But, folks, listen to this! God’s standard of goodness is way, way, way bigger. How big? Jesus said, “You must be perfect – perfect – just as perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” That’s God’s standard of goodness.
You say, “But, Jeff, I could never be perfect.”
That’s the point. You could never, ever be perfect enough to earn an eternity in heaven. You could never, ever be morally strong enough, spiritually strong enough, to work your way into the Kingdom of God. I don’t care how good you are compared to other people.
There is only one way for you to be right with God. And that way is Jesus.
Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Jesus says, “I am going to look you in the eye and tell you the truth now. Friend, you are not what you should be. But bring your sins to Me. Bring your weaknesses to Me. Bring your mistakes to Me. And I will wash all that stuff away and fill you with My grace, fill you with My goodness, fill you with My love.”
Picture it this way. Picture yourself as a glass of water. And the water inside that glass represents what’s inside you – your eternal soul. And maybe that water has gotten kind of stale, kind of cloudy, kind of dirty. Maybe not as dirty as a lot of other people, but still, you wouldn’t want to drink it. It’s certainly not pure.
Well, understand this: When you come to Jesus, He empties out all that dirty old water and He washes you clean on the inside. That’s what we mean when we say Jesus washes away our sins.
But He does more than just that. Most people don’t realize this. He also refills you with His own goodness and grace. It’s like refilling that glass with absolutely pure water. What am I saying? When we are full of ourselves, there is no room for God. But when we empty ourselves, we are in the perfect position to be filled by God’s grace.