Take it away. A way to fall beneath the reality of where you stand is when you become proud.
I think I have a pride that is not good. A bias, a judgment against Christians who have been tainted (there's a better word for this but can't put a finger on it right now). Funnily it's not like I'm any different.
Second best.
It does not matter when I think about how I understand God's grace. If grace has taken hold of me and I no longer am under the sinful nature then why should someone's past matter anyway if they have fallen under the same grace of God?
Perhaps it is being viewed by others that I'm associated with second best. The residual, the left over. But if that is the case then wow....I make others look like losers. What about me? I'm the residual, the lost loser, which Christ chose to have mercy on and befriend. My dodgy past he's taken away. I am righteous before God through the redemptive work of his dead and resurrection.
The approval of others, the gossip floating through the minds of other Christians. It is important to live in wisdom by seeking the advice of others and weigh up how someone's history could possibly influence their or my actions in the future, however at the end of the day it is about God's approval. You make a choice, in hope that God did approve your choice. If not, he'll still use it to work out his purposes.
Scattered thoughts.
2 comments:
What are you to yourself? worthless? vile? empty?
What is Jesus to you? precious? lovely? all your salvation? all your desire?
What is sin to you? the most hateful thing in the world?
What is holiness to you? most lovely? most longed for?
What is the throne of grace to you? the most attractive spot?
What is the cross to you? the sweetest resting place in the universe?
What is God to you? your God? your Father? the spring of all your joys? the fountainhead of all your bliss? the center where your affections meet?
Is it so? Then you are a child of God!
Those low views of yourself ... that brokenness, that inward mourning, that secret confession, that longing for ... more spirituality, more grace, more devotedness, more love, does but prove the existence, reality, and growth of God's work within you.
Cheer up, precious soul!
That soul never perished, that felt itself to be vile, and Jesus to be precious! (Octavius Winslow, "Evening Thoughts")
Struggling with pride is something I struggle with too. Not so very recently, but it's not uncommon :) This was quoted in a recent Boundless.org article and I found it rather encouraging.
Thanks Kat, this has lead me to a few articles that I posted about as well.
Really woken up again what I usually go with.
Objective reasoning when it comes to choices in a husband and of course, not in a cold robotic manner but to see things objectively with love.
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