A Matter of the Heart

I am now opening my heart to you....

God has ever so gently, but consistently, been dealing with the issue of pride in my life.  It manifests itself in so many various ways, but it all is the same.  Unfortunately, when I remember who was the first to be proud, it does not make me feel any better.

  I am so thankful for a God who loves me and is unwilling to give up on me; when, so many times I think He would have by now or some such garbage.  My Lord has saved my soul, He will not let me be useless for Him.

I have often felt like there is some sort of competition I am in with others:  trying to be the godliest, meekest, cleanest, prettiest...You get the idea.  I cannot tell you when it started, but I can tell you that none of those things are godly.  There is no competition found in the Bible, whereby we must strive against one another to show who is the most spiritual.

Yet, that is exactly the way I feel most days.   I feel like I have to prove myself to others, because they do not see what I can see.  I should not ever be having those thoughts or feelings; yet, there they are.

I know all these things in my head.  My soul knows that God is displeased with me every time I give in to pride.   However, I find myself daily giving in to it.

Pride is vicious.  Pride is ugly.  I once heard a preacher mention that no where in the Bible is pride ever mentioned as a good thing.  So far, I would have to agree with him, for I have not found a mention in the Bible with pride being looked upon favorably by Christ.

I do not want to continue being proud.  I know that God has daily been working in me to root it out, but it is deep-seeded.  Day by day He is pulling at the weeds, digging around this root, so that it will be out along with all the other ugly things that sprout up with pride.

I want to be meek like Christ.  Whenever I think of Him, I find Him so majestic, and so beautiful.  His spirit is the loveliest.  That is the kind of spirit I want to have manifest inside and out.

I know He was rejected of men.  He was despised.  He is God, yet He was treated worse than any person.  He never was proud.

Please pray for me, that I will not hinder Christ's work in my life to rid me of this awful pride.  I have been praying for it for some time.  He has been working in my life to get it gone.

God had me read a wonderful article today, that pointed the finger right on my sin issue.  It was definitely timely, and much needed.  I would encourage all of you to read it. I hope it is an encouragement to you, as it was to me. You will find it at this site.  She wrote it so beautifully!

"But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price."

I Peter 3:4

**Thank you to June, for writing on pride today.**