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Crucifying Pride
Pride. It's something that every one of us deals with. C.S. Lewis once described pride as "The Great Sin" because it's the one root from which all other sins grow. Murder, adultery, thievery...they all flow from the root sin of pride.
We exalt ourselves in our own minds, we see ourselves as better than others, and before long we begin to think ourselves wiser than God. That's when we begin to reach for the things He's forbidden. Pride was Satan's snare (Isaiah 14:13-14), and it can be ours as well.
Listen, if you ever sense yourself being led down the path of pride, if you ever feel the need to re-set your heart so you can see yourself from God's perspective, if you ever want to deal a death-blow to your pride...then the cross is where you need to fix your focus.
The cross is God's reminder to us that we have absolutely nothing to boast or brag about. It's where we're met with the humbling reality that we were so wretched and helpless that Someone else had to die just so we could live. An innocent Man was subjected to unfathomably excruciating pain and death on account of us. Where's the pride in that?
There isn't any, and that's exactly how God wants it. Boasting is totally excluded from the equation of our salvation. He doesn't want us to have the slightest reason to exalt ourselves. He doesn't want us to cave in to "The Great Sin" that has destroyed families and ruined innumerable lives.
Our Heavenly Father wants to protect us from falling under the spell of our own pride. And He does this by making us dependant on something we can't help but be humbled by...the cross.
But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ... (Galatians 6:14 NKJV)
The cross is God's reminder to us that we have absolutely nothing to boast or brag about.
Think about it...
What does this passage reveal to me about God?
What does this passage reveal to me about myself?
Based on this, what changes do I need to make?
What is my prayer for today?
Pride. It's something that every one of us deals with. C.S. Lewis once described pride as "The Great Sin" because it's the one root from which all other sins grow. Murder, adultery, thievery...they all flow from the root sin of pride.
We exalt ourselves in our own minds, we see ourselves as better than others, and before long we begin to think ourselves wiser than God. That's when we begin to reach for the things He's forbidden. Pride was Satan's snare (Isaiah 14:13-14), and it can be ours as well.
Listen, if you ever sense yourself being led down the path of pride, if you ever feel the need to re-set your heart so you can see yourself from God's perspective, if you ever want to deal a death-blow to your pride...then the cross is where you need to fix your focus.
The cross is God's reminder to us that we have absolutely nothing to boast or brag about. It's where we're met with the humbling reality that we were so wretched and helpless that Someone else had to die just so we could live. An innocent Man was subjected to unfathomably excruciating pain and death on account of us. Where's the pride in that?
There isn't any, and that's exactly how God wants it. Boasting is totally excluded from the equation of our salvation. He doesn't want us to have the slightest reason to exalt ourselves. He doesn't want us to cave in to "The Great Sin" that has destroyed families and ruined innumerable lives.
Our Heavenly Father wants to protect us from falling under the spell of our own pride. And He does this by making us dependant on something we can't help but be humbled by...the cross.
But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ... (Galatians 6:14 NKJV)
The cross is God's reminder to us that we have absolutely nothing to boast or brag about.
Think about it...
What does this passage reveal to me about God?
What does this passage reveal to me about myself?
Based on this, what changes do I need to make?
What is my prayer for today?
Scripture
About this Plan
Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, founded in 1985, has grown to be one of the largest churches in the country, and now has nine regional campuses in Florida in addition to the main campus in Fort Lauderdale. The church has established and now operates dozens of ministries to answer the needs for foster care, addiction recovery, and discipleship training. The church's mission is simply, "make disciples."
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We would like to thank Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale for providing this daily devotional. For more information about the church and other media resources it provides for personal discipleship, please visit www.calvaryftl.org
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