To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’” “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’” “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”** Luke 18:9-14 (NIV)**
Until we are aware of our own poverty of spirit, we will never see Christ’s value for our soul. It is the “poor in spirit” that Jesus calls “blessed” in the Sermon on the Mount because they are aware of their need for a Savior. They know they have a need whereas the prideful are unaware of their need albeit they are just as desperate. There is no idol like self, Amen? We can be so blinded by our own flaws – making little of ours and much of others. We can be way too lenient on self. We all need a Savior – every.last.one.of.us. And none of us are there or perfect either. We are all in process.
The devil has blown the prideful up as a balloon – swelled with their own vain conceits. Quick to believe their own press. Pride is an insidious monster taking many down in its wake. They are filled with self-righteousness, idolatry and pride and they look down upon those broken in spirit. There is no place more dangerous to be than on the pinnacle of self-righteousness, Amen? Like Humpty Dumpty, they are sitting prime for a fall. They have great need but remain unaware. One can never be their own savior. We all need Jesus. He is the only One Who has lived a perfect life and died as a perfect sacrifice for our sins – opening heaven for the heathen. Many have perished seeking to be their own savior. And Jesus tells us in all four Gospels to deny self, take up our cross and follow Him. Anything repeated in Scripture is a red flag – multiply that by four and it is definitely meant to get our attention.
Pride is and insidious monster and it can overtake the “best” of us in a nano-second. And we are all guilty. Flee from it quickly as soon as it begins to raise its ugly head. It is not your friend and God hates it. Indeed, it turned an angel into a demon. It does us well to remember – what do we have that we did not receive and if we received it why in the world should we boast? Whatever giftings the Lord has graciously placed on us were given to us but not for us. They are to be used to build the body of Christ up not ourselves. I do not know of a single person that created themselves. It is only God Wo create “ex nihilo”(out of nothing). This should humble us in lieu of puff us.
God will bring down their pride despite the cleverness of their hands. He will bring down your high fortified walls and lay them low; he will bring them down to the ground, to the very dust.** Isaiah 25:11-12 (NIV)**