Pride
Pride. . . again
I’m uncomfortable talking about pride in relation to myself, mainly because I don’t like to admit that I have a lot of it. I don’t like the feeling I feel when my pride is broken down, even though I know this is what must happen in order to be called a child of God. Things have happened in my life over the past several weeks that have secretly caused the pride within me to swell. It’s disgusting to think that I am so full of pride sometimes. I am caught up in pride about things that I have nothing to do with. Everything I have is a gift from God, not something that I somehow obtained on my own. My selfish mind has somehow distorted this truth into something more manageable and pleasing to it. I realize that even when I think I am relatively devoid of pride, even then my pride is an obstacle to authentic worship.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Mark 7:21-23 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.
1 John 2:15-16 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.
It is evident that I cannot harbor pride in my heart and truly think my life pleasing to the Lord. I am ashamed of the duplicitous nature of my heart. It is so difficult to have the proper attitude, with the world screaming in my ear about what it thinks is important, and yet, I am called to be different. [Romans 12:1-21]
Pride
O Thou terrible Meek,
Let not pride swell my heart.
My nature is the mire beneath my feet,
the dust to which I shall return.
In body I surpass not the meanest reptile;
Whatever difference of form and intellect is mine
is a free grant of thy goodness;
Every faculty of mind and body is thy undeserved gift.
Low as I am as a creature, I am lower as a sinner;
I have trampled thy law times without number;
Sin’s deformity is stamped upon me,
darkens my brow, touches me with corruption:
How can I flaunt myself proudly?
Lowest abasement is my due place,
for I am less than nothing before thee.
Help me to see myself in thy sight,
then pride must wither, decay, die, perish.
Humble my heart before thee,
and replenish it with thy choicest gifts.
As water rests not on barren hill summits,
but flows down to fertilize lowest vales,
So make me the lowest of the lowly,
that my spiritual riches may exceedingly abound.
When I leave duties undone,
may condemning thought strip me of pride,
deepen in me devotion to thy service,
and quicken me to more watchful care.
When I am tempted to think highly of myself,
grant me to see the wily power of my spiritual enemy;
Help me to stand with wary eye on the watch-tower of faith,
and to cling with determined grasp to my humble Lord;
If I fall let me hide myself in my Redeemer’s righteousness,
and when I escape, may I ascribe all deliverance to thy grace.
Keep me humble, meek, lowly.
Lord, please hear my prayer tonight. I am full of pride, lust, greed, envy, idolatry. I am full of things You abhor, and yet You call me Your own. Please have mercy on this wretched sinner; please bear with me in patient love. Please humble me before You, that I would be able to offer something truly honoring to You. Strip away all sinful attitudes I currently cling to for “security,” showing me that my only true security is found in You. I ask You to close my ears to the things the world may say that would ordinarily cause me to swell with pride; instead, I beg You to make me keenly aware of my low station before You, that I would always be in a proper worship position before You. Lord, by Your grace alone, I resolve never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be. No matter the situation, I will praise Your name, I will try to be a faithful servant. I know I am unable to do this on my own steam, so I cry out to You to strengthen me to accomplish this, not for my name, but for Your glory. Lord have mercy on this sinner.
I’m uncomfortable talking about pride in relation to myself, mainly because I don’t like to admit that I have a lot of it. I don’t like the feeling I feel when my pride is broken down, even though I know this is what must happen in order to be called a child of God. Things have happened in my life over the past several weeks that have secretly caused the pride within me to swell. It’s disgusting to think that I am so full of pride sometimes. I am caught up in pride about things that I have nothing to do with. Everything I have is a gift from God, not something that I somehow obtained on my own. My selfish mind has somehow distorted this truth into something more manageable and pleasing to it. I realize that even when I think I am relatively devoid of pride, even then my pride is an obstacle to authentic worship.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Mark 7:21-23 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.
1 John 2:15-16 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.
It is evident that I cannot harbor pride in my heart and truly think my life pleasing to the Lord. I am ashamed of the duplicitous nature of my heart. It is so difficult to have the proper attitude, with the world screaming in my ear about what it thinks is important, and yet, I am called to be different. [Romans 12:1-21]
Pride
O Thou terrible Meek,
Let not pride swell my heart.
My nature is the mire beneath my feet,
the dust to which I shall return.
In body I surpass not the meanest reptile;
Whatever difference of form and intellect is mine
is a free grant of thy goodness;
Every faculty of mind and body is thy undeserved gift.
Low as I am as a creature, I am lower as a sinner;
I have trampled thy law times without number;
Sin’s deformity is stamped upon me,
darkens my brow, touches me with corruption:
How can I flaunt myself proudly?
Lowest abasement is my due place,
for I am less than nothing before thee.
Help me to see myself in thy sight,
then pride must wither, decay, die, perish.
Humble my heart before thee,
and replenish it with thy choicest gifts.
As water rests not on barren hill summits,
but flows down to fertilize lowest vales,
So make me the lowest of the lowly,
that my spiritual riches may exceedingly abound.
When I leave duties undone,
may condemning thought strip me of pride,
deepen in me devotion to thy service,
and quicken me to more watchful care.
When I am tempted to think highly of myself,
grant me to see the wily power of my spiritual enemy;
Help me to stand with wary eye on the watch-tower of faith,
and to cling with determined grasp to my humble Lord;
If I fall let me hide myself in my Redeemer’s righteousness,
and when I escape, may I ascribe all deliverance to thy grace.
Keep me humble, meek, lowly.
Lord, please hear my prayer tonight. I am full of pride, lust, greed, envy, idolatry. I am full of things You abhor, and yet You call me Your own. Please have mercy on this wretched sinner; please bear with me in patient love. Please humble me before You, that I would be able to offer something truly honoring to You. Strip away all sinful attitudes I currently cling to for “security,” showing me that my only true security is found in You. I ask You to close my ears to the things the world may say that would ordinarily cause me to swell with pride; instead, I beg You to make me keenly aware of my low station before You, that I would always be in a proper worship position before You. Lord, by Your grace alone, I resolve never to give over, nor in the least to slacken my fight with my corruptions, however unsuccessful I may be. No matter the situation, I will praise Your name, I will try to be a faithful servant. I know I am unable to do this on my own steam, so I cry out to You to strengthen me to accomplish this, not for my name, but for Your glory. Lord have mercy on this sinner.
posted by Frank Bob at 10:21 PM
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