Christian Beware

My dad recently sent me an article by Jonathan Edwards entitled Spiritual Pride. My initial reaction was to pass over it with the thoughts of thinking that I didn't fall prey to this sinful attitude and heart. However with interest I decided to read on and discovered a deeper truth, that many including myself struggle with this almost hidden yet destructive sin.

Edwards begins by saying, "The first and worst cause of error that prevails in our day is spiritual pride. This is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those who are zealous for the advancement of Christ". Think about this idea for a moment...the devil's desire is to make those who are disciples of and zealous for the Lord Jesus the most ineffective and stained with sin as possible. Although the advancement of the kingdom doesn't hinge on our participation we should desire to live lives holy and worthy of the calling we have been given.

Pride begins in the heart and infiltrates the life. It is not something an individual must work at but rather a daily struggle to resist. It is the elevation of oneself to a higher position than may be true or the thought that one is better than reality. Pride leads us to believe that we don't struggle with pride a faulty assurance indeed. Pride takes many shapes and forms and lays deep within the heart and again daily be purged. It is a transitioning of the way the mind works from thinking highly of oneself to putting others before oneself. God's Word has much to say about pride:
"In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God." -Psalm 10:4
"When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." -Proverbs 11:2
"Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." -Proverbs 16:18

Spiritual pride is even harder to detect. It is through the fruits or lack of in the Christian life that one can distinguish the error. Jonathan Edwards does a brilliant job of highlighting the fruits of the prideful one: "Spiritually proud people often speak of almost everything they see in others in the harshest, most severe language. Commonly, their criticism is directed against not only wicked men but also toward true children of God and those who are their superiors. The humble, however, even when they have extraordinary discoveries of God's glory, are overwhelmed with their own vileness and sinfulness. Their exhortations to fellow Christians are given in a loving and humble manner, and they treat others with as much humility and gentleness as Christ, who is infinitely above them, treats them.

Spiritual pride often disposes people to act different in external appearance, to assume a different way of speaking, countenance, or behavior. However, the humble Christian, though he will be firm in his duty; going the way of heaven alone even if all the world forsake him; yet he does not delight in being different for difference's sake. He does not try to set himself up to be viewed and observed as one distinguished, but on the contrary, is disposed to become all things to all men, to yield to others, to conform to them, and to please them in all but sin.

Proud people take great notice of opposition and injuries, and are prone to speak often about them with an air of bitterness or contempt. Christian humility, on the other hand, disposes a person to be more like his blessed Lord, who when reviled did not open His mouth but committed Himself in silence to Him who judges righteously. For the humble Christian, the more clamorous and furious the world is against him, the more silent and still he will be.

Another pattern of spiritually proud people is to behave in ways that make them the focus of others. It is natural for a person under the influence of pride to take all the respect that is paid to him. If others show a disposition to submit to him and yield in deference to him, he is open to it and freely receives it. In fact, they come to expect such treatment and to form an ill opinion of those who do not give them what they feel they deserve."

May our hearts be motivated to seek His strength and wisdom alone and not our own. May our desire be to serve others and our Savior before ourselves. It is not an easy way of life, it goes against our natural fleshly desires and instincts to serve oneself first and foremost and to boast in ones triumphs and abilities. We must be quick to remember that any talent we have is not our own but on loan for the glory of God, any strength or ability we possess must be used for the furthering of His kingdom and it again is only in His strength that we can refocus our minds to humility and reverence.