The Dangers of Pride
PRIDE CLOSES YOUR HEART TO GOD; HUMILITY OPENS YOUR HEART TO GOD.
Bible Reading of the Day: Read Deuteronomy 8:6-14.
Verse of the Day: “Do not become proud . . . and forget the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 8:14).
Pastor White locked the front doors of the church behind him as his family waited for him on the steps.
“That was a good sermon, Dad,” Stephen said.
“Yeah!” his sister, Mary, agreed. “I liked the stories you told.”
Dad chuckled. “Well, thank the Lord.”
They walked slowly along the sidewalk between the church and their house.
“Why do you always say ‘thank the Lord’ when someone tells you they liked your sermon?” Stephen asked.
Dad looked at Stephen. “You’ve noticed that?” he asked. Dad leaned over and lifted Mary into his arms. “I do that for a very good reason,” he said.
“When I was just a young man,” Dad continued, “before either of you were even born, I went to school to become a preacher.”
“That’s where you met Mommy, isn’t it?” Mary asked.
Dad nodded. “That’s right. And when Mom and I arrived at our first church, I was determined to preach the best sermon those people had ever heard on my very first Sunday.”
“Did you?” Mary asked.
“Well, I thought I did,” Dad answered, smiling. “I was sure that I was preaching a sermon they would never forget, and I was pretty proud of the job I did.”
He set Mary down on the porch of their house and opened the door for his wife and children. Then he followed them in.
“After I finished,” Dad said, “I almost ran to the back of the church to shake people’s hands and receive their congratulations for the wonderful job I did. The first person I met was an old woman—everybody in the church called her ‘Grandma Andrews’—who said, ‘Pastor, that was some mighty fine preaching.’ I smiled and thanked her, and then she leaned real close and said, ‘But God can use a humble preacher more than the best sermon in the world.’”
“Did she really say that?” Stephen asked.
Dad nodded. “She sure did. And that’s why, ever since then, I try to please God instead of impressing people. And I try to give him the glory instead of taking it myself.”
TO DISCUSS: What does today’s Bible reading say is one of the dangers of comfort and pride? Can you think of other dangers? Which do you think God can use more, pride or humility? Which do you think draws you closer to God?
TO PRAY: “Guard us, Lord, against pride and other flaming arrows of the enemy.”