My Five Letter Word

Pride, its an ugly word. It's one that seems so easy to judge in others, but almost impossible to diagnose in myself. Yet, it is there. It is not pretty. It's so easy to ignore, or rationalize it away. But, really, it's just pride. God used some things this past weekend, to peel back my layers and reveal some areas of pride in my life. The details don't matter, but suffice it to say, that I was humbled.

I'm greatful that God reveals to me, myself. The self that I don't like to admit is there. I was really convicted about that as I went to church on Sunday, only to have the sermon on Sunday morning center around the topic of...you guessed it "Pride". That was the "nail in the coffin" so to speak. I realized that I had been even approaching church with pride... Let me explain. I had fallen into the trap of "What does the church have to offer me?". Really, church is not about me at all! Church is not a social club. It is not a place for me to even get "comfortable". The churches very exsistence is not to "keep" the saved, but to reach the lost. If I go to church with the eyes of " what's in it for me", or asking the questions "What are people thinking about me?" or "How do I measure up with so and so..."; then I miss the whole purpose of church. My eyes are on me. My thoughts are on me. By missing the point, by focusing on myself and not others, I am being proud. I am sinning. These are the things God was revealing to me. I am ashamed of the energy I was wasting worrying about the trivial and hurt by the way I was minimilizing the body of Christ.

I'm greatful today that God does not ask me to clean myself up before I come to Him. He takes me as I am. It's His job to remove the ugliness that so prevades my thoughts and feelings. He died to take away my sin. So Lord, Here I am.....