Daily Devotionals
Devotional: 10th of Elul
The ones standing highest are chopped down, the lofty are laid low (Isaiah 10:33).
Pride is a tricky thing. It creeps in, unexpected, seeking to take us hostage. Its goal is to keep us from the blessing of God and to put God in a position where he must resist us when he longs to embrace us. Pride loves to wear a spiritual cloak, causing God to appear conceited to the world.
Many years ago, when I began in ministry, I had a meeting with an Orthodox rabbi. We both had spiritual concerns about a new Jewish believer in my synagogue (his concerns, of course, were different from mine). In the process of a very frank discussion, this rabbi told me sincerely that he kept all 613 mitzvot (commandments) in the Torah. I had never heard a rabbi say that before, and it surprised me. When I got home, it occurred to me that there was one commandment this rabbi could not be keeping—to walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8). Like Benjamin Franklin, who always kept twelve of his personal thirteen commandments and always failed number thirteen, the rabbi was failing even as he declared his success. Of course, Franklin's number thirteen was "avoid pride."
Is pride holding you hostage? There is a way out, and it begins with embracing God's undeserved love.
...acknowledge my pride and choose to humbly depend on God's grace for my confidence.
MW
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