1 Timothy 6:1-21 One of the reasons we are critical and judgmental of others is because we are walking in pride instead of walking in love. There are two forms of pride—superiority and inferiority. We either think too highly of ourselves, or too lowly of ourselves. When we think too highly of ourselves, we delight in criticizing and putting down others. When we think too lowly of ourselves, we often try to elevate ourselves by putting others down. Whether we think too highly of ourselves or too lowly of ourselves, we are not seeing ourselves as God sees us. Humility is seeing ourselves as God sees us, and when He looks at us He says one thing, "You are worth the death of My own Son." This is the price that was paid for you, and therefore you are seen by God as a precious treasure—a treasure worth dying for, and He did just that.
Whenever we are in pride—superiority or inferiority—we are no longer in a position to resist Satan. In fact, we place ourselves in the position to be resisted by God. The Bible tells us that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.
Why does God resist the proud? God knows the rotten fruit pride will cause in our lives, and He resists us and will continue to resist us until we humble ourselves and confess our pride. Our heavenly Father knows we instantly remove ourselves from a position of victory to a position of defeat the moment we get into pride. He died to give us the victory over Satan.
This passage in 1 Timothy lists the rotten fruit of pride. They are:
1. Ignorance
2. Strife
3. Meaningless debate
4. Envy than truth
5. Railings
6. Evil surmising
7. Perverseness
8. Disputes
9. Corruption of the mind
10. Living in error rather
11. Covetousness
12. Greed
This list should convince us that we should humble ourselves before God daily and ask Him to help keep us from ever being prideful. True humility will come to us only as we see ourselves as God sees us. Today would be a good day to humble ourselves before our Lord. You might want to join me as I do this:
Lord, I humble myself before You by casting my every care upon You. You and You alone are able to get me through this day. I refuse to trust in my own strength or resources. Instead I place my trust in You. I refuse to be down on myself today. Instead I will continually praise You for giving Your Son on the cross to save me. Thank You for counting me worthy.
READ: Jeremiah 37:1-38:28; 1 Timothy 6:1-21; Psalm 89:38-52; Proverbs 25:28
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