Tag: C J Mahaney

Pride Explodes Relationships

…And Relationships Help Keep Our Pride in Check

Humility: Chapters 10 and 11

We are continuing our discussion of Humility: True Greatness with a focus on “Inviting and Pursuing Correction” (Chapter 10) and “Responding Humbly to Trials” (Chapter 11).

Pride not only destroys; it deceives. Sin in its deceptive power so often blinds us, leaving us unaware of flaws that others notice clearly (123).

As I read that sentence, I thought of how much of our suffering is connected to sin (either our own or the consequences we experience from others) I also thought about how difficult it seems to utter the words, “I’m sorry. I apologize for… [state exactly what we did to offend or sin against the other person]” and then follow our statement of confession by asking for their forgiveness. Our own pride and maybe the fear of how the receiving party will respond keeps us from humbly loving others in this way. Yet God calls us to intentional acts of peacemaking, and we need others to help us on the road to humbly making peace with others.

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Live Humbly

We are continuing our discussion of Humility: True Greatness. Previous posts:

Introduction: What is Humility?

Chapter 1: The Perils of Pride

Chapter 2: The Dangers of Pride

Chapter 3: Who Wants to be Great?

Chapter 4: Can We Learn Humility?

Chapter 5: Make a List

Chapter 6: How Well Do You Sleep?

Today, I am catching up from last week’s travels by discussing Chapters 7 and 8.

“He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8 [NASB]?”

Chapter 7 reminds us of the intentional steps we can take to daily humble ourselves before the Lord:

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Humility: Make a List

I’m on campus in Charlotte, North Carolina attending classes at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary this week. One of the things I love about attending classes, particularly on the weekends, is beginning classes with our Friday evening chapel services. Normally, we begin chapel with songs of worship.

Sometimes we sing one of the favorite hymns, “Come Thou Fount of Blessings.” The last stanza reigns true in our lives:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

Prone to leave the God I love;

Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,

Seal it for thy courts above.

We are all prone to wander, aren’t we? We are tempted on every side and around every corner. We are sometimes tempted to think that we are “above” or have grown “beyond” a particular sin. We must remember that this is not the case with pride! On this side of Heaven, we are never beyond pride and we should never to think that pride has no affect on us.

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