Are You Being Cheated?

Joy stealer, misery maker, liar, cheater are all words that describe what pride can do to us.  The truth is we all struggle with it. Sometimes we don’t recognize it in our own lives but we can spot it right away in someone else’s life!

How would you define someone who is prideful? Boastful, arrogant, puffed up, stuck up,  ____________

The answer to the problem with pride is the letter found right in the middle of the word. What is it? “I”! Pride really is all about me. I think more highly of myself than I ought or I have a low self-esteem. Doesn’t matter which end of the spectrum I fall and I’ve been on all sides, it’s all about me. Did you notice how many times I used the letter “I”?

Scripture speaks to the issue in 1 Peter 5:5-6, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” The solution for pride is humility. What is humility?  Thinking of God more than I think of myself.  “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time.”

Why is humility so difficult? Because I am so PROUD! King Nebuchadnezzar shared what he learned, “those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” (Daniel 4:37) Like the proud king, I’ve lived enough of life to know that it is easier to humble myself than to let God humble me. What about you?

In her book, Praying God’s Word, Beth Moore wrote the following:

My name is Pride. I am a cheater.

I cheat you of your God-given destiny . . . because

You demand your own way.

I cheat you of contentment because . . . you

“deserve better than this.”

I cheat you of knowledge . . . because you already

Know it all.

I cheat you of healing . . . because you refuse to

Admit when you’re wrong.

I cheat you of vision . . . because you refuse to

Admit when you’re wrong.

I cheat you of vision . . . because you’d rather look

in the mirror than out a window.

I cheat you of genuine friendship . . . because

nobody’s going to know the real you.

I cheat you of love . . . because real romance

demands sacrifice.

I cheat you of greatness in heaven . . . because you

Refuse to wash another’s feet on earth.

I cheat you of God’s glory . . . because I convince

you to seek your own.

My name is Pride. I am a cheater.

You like me because you think I’m always looking out for you. Untrue.

I’m looking to make a fool of you.

God has so much for you, I admit, but don’t worry . . .

If you stick with me.

You’ll never know.

–Praying God’s Word, pg. 59

No doubt pride does cheat us out of all that God wants for us and makes a fool of us too! Not fun! Although I’ve come a long way in recognizing pride in my own life there is not a day that goes by that I don’t wrestle with it in some form. Each day that I fail to yield my pride to the Lord, I find it rearing it’s ugly head in some area of my life.

Jeremiah 9:24 has the solution for pride. Let’s take his advice,  “but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.” Now that’s worth boasting about!

Julie