Pride

Pride

MY QUESTION for GOD

How can I tell if I am struggling with pride?

A MOMENT with GOD

Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, “Plead with the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go, so they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.” . . . So Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh’s palace, and Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had inflicted on Pharaoh. And the Lord did just what Moses had predicted. The frogs in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields all died. The Egyptians piled them into great heaps, and a terrible stench filled the land. But when Pharaoh saw that relief had come, he became stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted.

Exodus 8:8, 12-15

With each plague that God sent upon Egypt, Pharaoh weakened—but only temporarily. Over time Pharaoh tried to negotiate a number of compromises to let Israel go—but without actually setting them free. He tried to maintain control because he refused to acknowledge the sovereign authority of Israel’s God. Only the final plague, the death of all firstborn sons, completely shook Pharaoh’s illusion of power. We all have areas in our lives where we are a little like Pharaoh; we want to be in charge and make our own rules. But just as there is room for only one driver in a car, so there is room for only one God in your heart. Try to discern those areas in your life where you are still making the rules instead of living by God’s rules—areas where you need to give up control to God. If you can root out pride before it begins to grow, you will save yourself much grief by avoiding God’s judgment.

DIVINE PROMISE

What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever. Isaiah 5:21