Renato Cardoso's Blog |  |
Posted: 14 Jul 2014 08:14 PM PDT Part of the series “40 Thoughts of Jesus.” View all previous here, but first learn how the purpose works here.
The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people… Luke 18.11 Through the story above, Jesus expressed the following Thought, “If you walk around with an up-nosed attitude, you will end up on the ground; but if you humbly see who you really are, you will end up becoming a better person.” That is, he who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. In this story, the Pharisee felt that he was a very good and righteous person, way above other people around him. Full of himself, he’d pray to himself. Notice this: to himself, not to God. Obviously, God does not waste time with prayers from people like this. “For God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (1 Peter 5.5) Unfortunately, the people to whom this Thought is addressed hardly ever get the message. They will understand it, but will immediately think it’s applicable to other people, not to them. They think they are righteous. They are wise in their own eyes. They think that they hardly ever make a mistake, and when they do, it’s always with a good excuse. Take a close look at yourself and see if you have the habit of bragging about your qualities; pointing out other people’s mistakes, and having a hard time seeing or recognizing your own; often saying, “I always…”, followed by some virtue of yours (or, “I never…”, followed by something negative). Do you constantly feel unappreciated because other people do not recognize what’s good about you? Is your pride hurt and your anger stirred when someone corrects you? If you have the habit of doing some of these things, you probably suffer with self-righteous syndrome. Get real; to be humble is to be true to yourself, because nobody is that great. Application: Do your best to be the best and do everything with perfection — but never expecting recognition from others, nor seeking your own glory. How do you deal with your feelings of being despised, rebuked or lack of appreciation? Do you have a hard time seeing your own mistakes? Is it easy for you to see other people’s mistakes? How can a person be sincerely humble? Leave your comment. |
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