See if you can complete the following statements:
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Look out for number…
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I’ve got to do what’s best for…
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I know it’s expensive, but I’m…
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See if you can complete the following statements: “Look out for number…” “I’ve got to do what’s best for…” “I know it’s expensive, but I’m…”
Most of us know the answers because we live in a culture that says, “If you’ve got it, flaunt it. If you don’t, fake it.” Our mantra has become “It’s all about me.” But what’s been the result of all the emphasis on self? A nation of people who suffer from the dreaded disease “fragmentosis-relationitis.” And at the heart of the problem is our old nemesis – pride. Pride makes us demanding, unsympathetic, selfish, obnoxious and rude. When we face a problem in a relationship, pride stops us from working it out. As Mark Twain once observed, “Anger gets us into trouble, but pride keeps us there.”
Have you ever blown it, realized your mistake, but then refused to admit you were wrong? The most famous line in the movie “Love Story” was “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.” That philosophy is what you get when you breed a crocodile to an abalone: a crockabaloney. It’s pride that means never having say you’re sorry. Love is always willing to say “I’m sorry.” Humble pie may not taste good, but there are no calories in it and it’s very nutritious to your relationships and to your own spiritual growth.
Perhaps our biggest challenge is to acknowledge that if it were not for God we would have absolutely nothing of value. 1 Corinthians 4:7 asks a good question: “What are you so puffed up about? What do you have that God hasn’t given you? And if all you have is from God, why act as though you have accomplished something on your own?” Too many of us are like the little ant who hitched a ride across a bridge on an elephant’s back, and, reaching the other side, looked back and said, “Man, we really had that old bridge shaking!”
What is the key to ridding yourself of pride? It begins with experiencing God’s unconditional love. If you’re wondering how this has anything to do with getting rid of pride, consider this: Truckers will tell you it’s the empty truck on the road that makes the most noise. If you ask a drummer where the loudness comes from, he will point to the empty space inside the drum. Pride is the same. It indicates an emptiness on the inside. When you hear someone incessantly bragging, you can know they are empty inside. Think about it – how often do we brag just to look good to others when we really don’t feel too good about ourselves?
In order to compensate for these feelings, we chase after things that promise us happiness and the fullness of life. We surround ourselves with philosophies that say if we amass the right amount of power, pleasure and possessions we will feel good about ourselves. Or we go another direction: We try to earn God’s approval by getting involved in religious activities, covering up our problems and putting on whatever mask we think he wants us to wear. Yet all the while we sense a deep emptiness in our souls.
If you’re feeling empty, consider God’s word to you in Ephesians 3:18-19, “May you be able to feel and understand how long, how wide, how deep, and how high God’s love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves so at last you will be filled up with God Himself!” When you experience God’s love, you experience unconditional love for the first time. Many of us have heard about God’s love; we know about it intellectually, we’ve certainly enjoyed the results of it, but we’ve never really felt it.
The idea that God’s love is a gift and not something we need to earn is hard for us to accept. We’ve become conditioned to believe that our worth comes from the label on our clothes or the hood ornament on our car or the address of our home. God has a radically different message. He says, “I know every single detail of your life… every thought, every motive, every action… and I love you anyway!”
In the person of Jesus Christ, God demonstrated his love in a very tangible way. It’s as if the Lord, his arms open wide and nailed to a cross, said, “I love you this much.” That sacrificial act was not motivated by any worthiness in us but by God’s infinite love. When we feel that love, we trade in the philosophy of “If you’ve got it, flaunt it; if you don’t, fake it” for a new one: “It is not that we think we can do anything of lasting value by ourselves. Our only power and success come from God”( 2 Corinthians 3:5).
Henry Harris is Senior Pastor of Rolling Hills Community Church in Hollister. Your questions and comments are appreciated. Write him in care of the church at 330 Tres Pinos Road, Hollister 95023, e-mail him at [email protected] or call 636-5353.
