February 24
“and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:5b-7
We’ve been discussing humility and trying to make the point that humility is at the root, I believe, of all obedience. Without it, we believe we are immune to consequences. We believe we can get away with not carefully following scriptural advice or even outright breaking of what the scripture says. The most proud people I know are those that claim to be Christians yet blatantly set aside and reinterpret certain commands of scripture to suit their own sinful self-interests. They are always able to find reasons why the scripture doesn’t apply to them or that God would never expect them to do such and such in their circumstances.
It amazes me how blind we become when we want to justify ourselves and our sin. Why not just say, “I am sinning.” Why go through all the trouble to try to say and teach others that you are not really disobeying the scriptures you so obviously are disobeying? This is the pattern of sin, we will seek to diminish and play down what God says in order to cover up our sins, in order to try to persuade ourselves that we aren’t so bad. Have you met the kind of person who never acknowledges or apologizes for their offensive behavior toward you, and always talks and acts like you are the sinful person? Pride personified. Pharisees are alive and well in Christian circles, and I’m not just talking about legalistic people but those who have great complaints and weighty accusations about others but cannot seem to point out too many serious faults of their own, not to mention apologize for any of them.
I much prefer the approach that is quick to confess sin as sin, and if there are errors to be made, err in being too thorough, if that is possible, in acknowledging and confessing sin. I respect the people who examine themselves thoroughly and are able to acknowledge their own sin and hardness of heart. It seems to me that Christians follow the world a lot in deciding what to take issue with. Now it seems that railing on people they say are “narcissists” and “abusive” is much in vogue. The sins that are more obvious are popular targets. But what about pride and hardness of heart? What about the sins of avoiding others that you deem beneath you or offensive to you, rather than pursuing them with love and grace? In my opinion, current Christian psychology and counseling is a breeding ground for Pharisaical judges and self-blind critics who are quick to point out the sins of others but cannot see that their own hypocrisy and judgmental spirit may be a far worse sin in the Lord’s eyes.
Think about the complaints you have toward others. Think about the kinds of Christians you dislike. Think about the sins you detest in others. Now think about how you yourself share these qualities and sins, when you really examine things closely. Think about how God may have enabled you to avoid or not be ensnared by certain sins, and what are you doing with that grace? Using your God-given blessings and abilities to humbly help others out of their sin, or judge them and hold yourself aloof from them?
Fearing God and walking in humility enables us to avoid not just the more obvious sins like lust and anger and greed, but also the less obvious sins such as pride and hardness of heart, which are much more difficult to see in ourselves. Pray daily for greater humility and the removal of every bit of pride from you. Pray daily that God would give you a great measure of healthy fear of Him. We all need these far more than we realize we do.