Pride is a funny thing. We readily notice it in the lives of others, but when it comes to examining it in our own hearts, it is invisible.
In Matthew 23, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees for their arrogance - exalting themselves before men, while all the while being full of death and uncleanness.
Two points that grabbed me today as I was reading:
1. Jesus told the multitudes to do all that the Pharisees told them to do. The only stipulation was, "Don't do according to their deeds." Too often, we ignore the teachings of hypocrites, and assume that because they live differently than they speak, what they say is not true. However, the very condemnation of hypocrites is that they DON'T live according to what they say - and how they live is usually what is condemned. I struggled with this for a long time when I was growing up - seeing adults who said one thing and did another. It made me reject everything they said. Later, I realized that much of what they said was true, they just weren't living it out.
2. Though we've heard it before, we still don't seem to catch on that pride is not a measurement of a person's success at getting attention, it's a motivation of the heart to seek that attention - successful or not. In Matthew 23:5, Jesus says that the Pharisees, "do all their deeds to be noticed by men." It's easy to condemn "show offs" who try to gain attention for themselves - exalting their works, talents, personality, etc. But what about those who do their deeds to be noticed by men... and yet aren't noticed?
The point always comes back to this... God wants our hearts, not just our appearances. Whether we're noticed by others, or not, if we do our deeds in order to be noticed, that is pride.
2 comments:
great insights karen! thanks for the post!
It's funny I was just reading Matthew 23 today. Point one is much harder than it sounds! Thanks much for the reminder... though I don't want to practice it ;-)
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