God is in the Valley of Pride and Destruction
God is in the Valleys / 3
We continue looking at the overall theme of God is in the Valley. And this week we think about God being in the Valley of our pride and destruction.
Pride is so common to us all, and yet it is also so destructive. It causes us to focus on our own plans and ideas rather than following God. It blinds us to our need for God in everything and so leads us to destruction. It also makes us selfish and mean-spirited, not acting in compassion.
So, to combat pride, we need to put God first, we need to commit our plans to God and we need to ask God for true humility.
Exodus 20:1-6 Proverbs 19:21 Proverbs 16: 1; 9 Proverbs 16:18-19 Proverbs 11:2 Ephesians 2:1-9 Proverbs 13:10 Proverbs 16:3 Romans 3:23
Quotes
A high, esp. an excessively high, opinion of one’s own worth or importance which gives rise to a feeling or attitude of superiority over others; inordinate self-esteem. Oxford English Dictionary
Inordinate self-esteem; an unreasonable conceit of one’s own superiority in talents, beauty, wealth, accomplishments, rank or elevation in office, which manifests itself in lofty airs, distance, reserve, and often in contempt of others. Webster Dictionary
“For pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
When we think that we are automatically entitled to something, that is when we start walking all over others to get it. Criss Jami, Diotima, Battery, Electric Personality
Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man… It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition is gone, pride is gone. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Preacher: Alex Camp
Series: God is in the Valleys
Date: August 25, 2024