Pride and Where I Find It...

When I was in college, I had a teacher who used to say about pride, “The question we should have is not ‘is there pride in my life?’ but ‘where is it, and how much?’”, then we should seek to rid ourselves of it no matter what it costs us. If I apply that to myself, where do I find pride, the simple answer is everywhere. I find it when I spend too long getting ready in the morning. I find it when I can’t wear something that I don’t think looks fabulous because I have to be seen by other people. I find it every time I am lazy, every time I am less than gracious. It’s a constant stream of me, me, me, me, me, me, and me. It’s a monster!

So what to do about it? It’s not like it was when we were little kids, where you close/cover your eyes in hopes that whatever you don’t like will go away. You cannot escape the reality of sin. Simply covering up your pride issue with some added niceness is like trying to apply cosmetics to an outbreak of poison oak, to cover it up. Unless it is treated properly like the disease that it is, it will spread.

The only antidote strong enough for the poisons we produce is the Bible, the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 states,

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Time to increase our exposure, I should think. The word “piercing” is what gets me; it reminds me there is no way of hiding anything. It reminds me of dark mornings during my childhood, when my sister would get up and turn on the main light in our bedroom. Talk about piercing!

Consider also Psalm 119:11,

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Looks like the writer of Psalm 119 caught onto something. If God shows you that pride is everywhere in your life, go after it, and show it no mercy. Don’t help it hide. If the Word of God is so important to our spiritual health, what else is there to do? Let’s up our intake, and strive to be rid of this monster of self, no matter what it costs us. The only reason we wouldn't is because of our own pridefulness, and that's the whole point, now, isn't it?

A different language

I used to do my share of swearing. Maybe it was mostly in my own head, but occasionally something would “slip out”. Not a lot, compared to some people, I had a couple girlfriends at my last job that made the stereotypical “sailor” sound like a little kid. Now, you may read this and think, “How sad…” or you may read this and think, “That’s me, too.”

What I have noticed since high school is that a disturbing amount of so-called Christians cling to (or even introduce) forms of offensive language into their talk. I knew people who would talk about God in one conversation, then turn right around and use a deluxe set of four-letter words in the next. Why? Well, maybe because it helps you to blend in. Maybe it is fun for the shock value. Maybe it is because you really do not care about what you do, and your language is a great way to show it. Whatever the reason, if you are a Christian, one thing you should know is that God calls us to a radical standard, one that is so completely different from everyone else, and on purpose!

Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips (Proverbs 4:24).

But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. (Colossians 3:8)

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen (Ephesians 4:31).

People who do not care about language show a lot of what they think about God. And since God cares about your language, for you not to care is you showing you don’t care about God every time you swear, whether you “let something slip” or said it on purpose. A changed life exhibits changed speech. It doesn’t matter if somebody made you mad, you stubbed your toe, you dropped your $300 cell phone, or you are trying to make people laugh. This is yet another thing we are to cast off. Watch your mouth, and remember-- Christians speak a different language.

Worthless Things

Last week, I did something I had never done before. No, it wasn’t skydiving, eating swordfish, observing sharks in a cage underwater, camping in the snow, or any other activity that makes little sense to me.

What did I do what was so unusual for me? I went through my iTunes library and deleted about 50+ songs from my hard drive. Considering that a lot of those were bought online, yikes, I might as well have thrown a handful of dollar bills to the wind.

As those closest to me know, I recently became a Christian. And yeah, I know, how many times can a person “get saved” before it is legit, right? I’ve wondered that myself throughout my life, what an irony that I was one such case. I came to realize, wow. These things that characterize a Christian, that define a person who follows after God in holiness…these things are nowhere to be found in my life. All I showed was a clever imitation. But God changed my heart much, and brought me to repentance. Now, I know that what results from repentance and a change in heart is a change in my lifestyle, reflecting this. There should be no doubt Who I belong to.

Any music that could be labeled “questionable” got deleted. Ciara, Rihanna, Usher, Maroon 5, Linkin Park, Nickelback, Christina Aguilera, and yes, even the infamous Justin Timberlake, to name just a few.

I was reminded earlier today of a message I heard at church a few weeks back, in which my brother-in-law, Bobby, brought up Psalm 119. I have started reading this Psalm, by the way, and wow. I want to learn to live like that! Verse 37 states (in the NIV and NASB versions combined),

“Turn my eyes away from worthless things, and revive me according to your ways.”

And remembering what Bobby talked about, keeping that music I had, well, it could easily be characterized as “worthless”. All it talks about is how to “get it”, how to “keep it”, and how to get back at whoever hurt you when you when something goes wrong. Looking back at it, those songs are all so lame! I encourage you, if you need to clean out your music, or any media, for that matter, do it. If something in your life can be characterized as spiritually worthless, what good will it do you to hold on to it? Let it go, and focus on all that matters, all that satisfies. Be revived, and be obedient. Otherwise life is nothing more than a clever imitation of what it could be.