Pride is a by-product of insecurity. And the more insecure a person is, the more monuments they need to build. There is a fine line between ‘Thy kingdom come’ and ‘my kingdom come.’ If you cross the line, your relationship with God is self-serving. You aren’t serving God. You are using God. You aren’t building altars to God. You are building monuments to yourself.
Pride
Arthur W. Pink
If we expect people to pet and pamper us, disappointment will make us fretful. If we desire our pride to be ministered to, we are dejected when it is not. The secret of happiness is forgetting self and seeking to minister to the happiness of others. “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” so it is a happier thing to minister to others than to be ministered to.
John Chrysostom
To me, it is nothing when I am applauded and well-spoken of. There is only one thing I ask of you-to prove your approval of me through your works. That is how you can speak well of me, and that is what is going to do you good. This, to me, is the greatest honour. I prefer it to a material crown. I do not desire applause and being well spoken of. I have one request to make-for you to listen to me in quiet attentiveness and to put my advice into practice. This is not a theatre. You don’t sit here in order to admire actors and to applaud them. This is a place where you must learn the things of God.
Thomas Merton
The words of the proud man impose silence on all others, so that he alone may be heard. The humble man speaks only in order to be spoken to.
Havilah Cunnington
February 27, 2020
Many times we high-five the Holy Spirit with a, “I’ll take it from here!” or “ I got this!” This is where many of us get into trouble. The Bible says there is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death (Proverbs 16:25). I believe there are many times in our lives where things will seem right to us but without the leading of the Holy Spirit and His perfect guidance, we will get ourselves in trouble. We need His perfect guidance, His foresight, His protection and navigation for the journey ahead of us.
Floyd McClung
February 3, 2020
By trying to please people and live up to their expectations, we can easily fall into a false form of spirituality. We find ourselves praying, reading Scripture, and worshipping not from the heart but from a secret motive to impress others. We become more interested in how we look to others than how we look to God. The more insecure we are, the more susceptible we become to the opinions of others. Humility frees us from this form of pride, allowing us to live to please the Lord.
C. S. Lewis
Don’t shine so others can see you. Shine so that through you others can see Him.
John Chrysostom
January 10, 2020
To me, it is nothing when I am applauded and well-spoken of. There is only one thing I ask of you-to prove your approval of me through your works. That is how you can speak well of me, and that is what is going to do you good. This, to me, is the greatest honour. I prefer it to a material crown. I do not desire applause and being well spoken of. I have one request to make-for you to listen to me in quiet attentiveness and to put my advice into practice. This is not a theatre. You don’t sit here in order to admire actors and to applaud them. This is a place where you must learn the things of God.
Mark Chironna
December 15, 2019
As long as we are enamored by the spotlight, the attention, the approval of others, Christ will wait in the shadows of hiddenness until we have exhausted ourselves and come to realize the shallow emptiness of our pursuits.
Jane Douglas White
Too often we say, “I have no talent to teach a Sunday school class.” “My home is not nice enough to have a Bible study here.” “I don’t cook well enough to help with Meals on Wheels.” “I’m a businessman, not a carpenter. I wouldn’t know the first thing about building a house for Habitat for Humanity.” When we step out in faith and offer all we have, God will use it in powerful ways. How much is enough? Just what we have when God is with us!