THANKFUL

Chatting with Jesus

Thursday, January 18, 2024

Lord, you created such a beautiful, pristine world. But when Satan tempted Adam and Eve by hyping their pride, man fell for Satan’s ugly lie, and ugliness spread like a California wildfire.

There is no lack of ugliness in this fallen world. A balding gentleman’s bad combover. Me trying to hit my 3-wood off the fairway. The traditional Dallas Cowboys loss to the Green Bay Packers. It’s plain ugly.

According to Psalm 3:1,2, believers have many spiritual enemies. I’ve seen one of the worst, if not the worst, ugly attribute of all: a virtue-signaling Christ follower, conquered by his worst enemy, pride, who gloats in his self-righteousness, looking down his spiritual nose on others he  thinks inferior. It makes no difference whether the objects of his scorn are non-believers or other Christ followers. Few measure up to his standards.

There is a reason Scripture details how God opposes the proud,yet gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). This enemy of God, the sin of self-righteous pride, is also every Christ follower’s enemy as well.

Lord, as a believer grows in faith and gains more understanding of your attributes, Satan, tempts us as he did Adam and Eve—”you will be like God” (Genesis 3:5). Most believers blow off this temptation, but some, sadly, are conquered by this sly enemy whose purpose is to destroy our credibility as a Christ follower. Slowly, we morph into a judgmental “holier than thou” believer that few want to be around.

Sinful pride is preoccupied with the “look at me” complex. We take credit for our accomplishments, our societal status, our accumulated possessions when that credit is rightfully yours, Lord. Surprisingly, more have not injured their shoulder patting themselves on their back. It’s plain ugly.

Lord, there is enough ugliness in the world. May we not add to it. Help us walk in humility, knowing you are our source of life. Amen, Jesus.