Spiritual pride is the source of all haughtiness and unrealistic
self-confidence. Our soul inflates with self-importance and we brag foolishly
about our accomplishments. Contrarily, the humble Believer will only boast in
the Lord, realizing that everything they produce is the direct result of the
Spirit’s direction and provision (Psalm 34:2). They give God the
praise and glory all day long (Psalm 44:8). When other people
praise them, they appreciate the encouragement, but they give all the glory to
God (Proverbs 27:1-2).
Our true self-worth does not come from who we are or what we do, but from
our relationship with God, Our Father. Those with Godly self-worth admit to the
consequences of our choices. We realize that blaming someone else is useless
and stunts our spiritual progress. We know that we will never grow spiritually
if we do not take responsibility for our own actions. God gives us all of the
talents and abilities we need to live as good stewards for His glory.
God wants us to realize our limitations. Rather than to codependently attempt to meet every need we see, God wants us to volunteer to meet only those needs for which He calls and equips us. We may lose a battle, but Jesus already won the war on Calvary’s cross. We may have momentary failings; but by walking in the Spirit, we have no permanent failures. Belittling our self is always easy, but has no positive results (1 John 3:20).
There is no more condemnation in the life of an authentic Christian (Romans 8:1-2). We merely need to repent of our mistakes and
believe that He is God and will reward everyone who diligently seeks Him (Hebrews 11:6). God has mercy on us according to His unfailing
love and endless compassion. He blots out our transgressions, washes away our
iniquities and cleanses us from all of our sins (Psalm 51:1-2).
We work out our own salvation with fear and trembling by realizing that we
can only do this as God gives us the desire as well as the ability, power and
strength to do His will (Philippians 4:12-13). God enables us to admit
to the consequences and results of our choices, to realize our limitations
without putting our self down, and to recognize our gifts and talents without
taking the glory for them. He teaches us the secret of contentment in any
situation, and leads us to make more and more righteous choices as we follow
His Spirit moment by moment throughout the day.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for exchanging Your righteousness for our sins, and Your holiness in exchange for our ungodly thoughts and behavior. We may continue to do bad things, but that does not mean we are bad people. You faithfully forgive every sin we confess and sanctify us from any ungodly behavior (1 John 1:9-10). As long as we walk by Your Spirit’s direction throughout our day, we will accomplish the works You called us to do before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 2: 8-10).
Thought for the Day:
God’s Spirit dispells our feelings of defeat and doubt and gives us the
faith to move mountains. – Matthew 17:20