Pride Engulfing Faith

What a couple weeks it has been. We are currently spending every minute we can enjoying the snuggles that Oakley, our seven week old, still longs for almost constantly. We know how quickly this time passes, and we are soaking it up as much as we currently can. Tanja still doesn’t go back to work for another five weeks, which is a blessing in and of itself. It’s been absolutely incredible.

At the same time that we have been enjoying so many snuggles, I have also been experiencing a wave of emotions around decisions in regards to my career path moving forward. For those that don’t already know, I have started working towards the end goal of full time ministry. In the last couple of weeks I have found myself on my knees before God in frustration and also in celebration. I have struggled with hearing God clearly in this one area of my life. Through that frustration there were points where I allowed my pride to engulf my faith, instead of the other way around. Multiple times in Proverbs Solomon discusses God’s hatred of pride. Pride is a fault that can sneak up so quickly without us even knowing it. It not only begins to engulf our faith but it causes us to fall short in so many areas of our lives.

I think it is extremely important that in both instances of me falling to my knees before God that I still made sure to cry out to him in thankfulness for who He is. Also that I acknowledged and affirmed who I am in Him. I'm not always great at remembering the importance of these two things, but luckily in this situation I was able to remember that thankfulness for who he is, and affirmation of who I am in him are going to have to be the stronghold through this situation. Oftentimes pride, amongst other things, will cause us to build a false image of ourselves that chips away at who we truly are in Christ. I have found it incredibly important that in both extremes my focus remains on thankfulness for what God has done in my life up to this point. I think it is crucial to take time acknowledging the victories that God has worked through you and in you.

This week our Life Group once again multiplied. Praise God for that. The growth has been phenomenal and we currently have the honor of training up another set of leaders to help continue that growth and faith development. We are currently in the book of Romans. Last night found us in Chapter 2. What an incredible place to be at in the Word during this time. Paul explains that true righteousness does not come from any action, or any religious behavior, but instead from the heart through Christ alone. A member of our life group who has been with us for several months now, spoke up on just this matter and in that moment I found myself fighting back tears of joy. Through leading Life Groups we have been witness to so much life change in so many. To see someone come so far and begin to internalize how life change truly happens at the core was amazing. To watch someone truly grasp what is one of the hardest concepts of our faith to understand was incredible.

See our flesh was created to desire sin. We are naturally drawn to corruption and yes, even to pride. So often, when people come into the church, they begin to try to work on different areas of their lives. They try to tackle sin in their life in the same way that they naturally have tried to accomplish other tasks. They create a game plan. They set up accountability, and they try to correct the behavior themselves. Then they wonder, after such a valiant effort, why they fail at changing the behavior. Again, and again, and again. The answer is clear. Life change doesn’t happen through our own doing. We don’t ever stop naturally being drawn to sin and corruption. Instead, through focusing on Him, and Him alone, life change begins to take shape on its own. The gospel is the ONLY way. Once we begin to draw closer to God, we instinctively begin to change. The more intense that pursuit, the more intense the change.

Hearing the understanding of this monumental thought come out of this Life Group member’s mouth was astonishing. This seems like a basic elementary principle, but due to the way we are created, it is instead, a monumental task. A task that we must take up each and every day. We must choose to pursue him above all else every day. And sometimes multiple times throughout the day.

What do you know, the exact situation that brought me to my knees in frustration, ended up providing so much growth in a short amount of time. I, as I encourage you to do as well, reached out to someone I respect immensely outside of the situation. I asked for prayer before anything else. This person in turn after thinking on it for a night, gave me honest and sincere feedback. This feedback was not the answer I wanted to hear, instead it was the answer I needed to hear. It was a reality check. A wakeup call you might even say. My pride had engulfed my faith to the point of justification in certain areas. I couldn’t see past my own view of the painting to understand others views of the same painting. This whole situation ended up not really being a situation at all. Things ended up working out just how God planned them to, and ultimately in a positive way for everyone involved including myself.

I am thankful to be at a point where I reacted with action that led to a positive change in my thinking and a massive growth opportunity for myself. It wasn’t that long ago that I would have reacted to limited information on a subject, put the cart before the horse, and imploded. So at least for this guy here, this was life change in and of itself, and that life change has only occurred through the unending pursuit of Christ. A pursuit I have to choose to continue each and every day. A pursuit that isn’t always easy and definitely is not natural. A pursuit of a faith that engulfs my pride and not the other way around which can happen so easily.

“Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2 NLT)

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NLT)