Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – August 20, 2016
I will break down your stubborn pride and make the sky above you like iron and the ground beneath you like bronze. Leviticus 26:19
Stubborn pride creates hardened hearts. It is shortsighted and insecure in its aggressive attempts to control. Stubborn pride acts as if it has everything together and doesn’t need the help of anyone, even God. Its stiff attitude is frustrating when attempting to work out conflicting issues. The demands of stubborn pride are unreasonable and its perspective is skewed toward itself. Stubborn pride resists change and misses out on improvement for the sake of the project, the team, or its family. Everyone has to be careful of stubborn pride sneaking into his or her beliefs and behaviors.
Stubborn pride rejects relational engagement that requires confession and forgiveness. There is an aversion to authenticity because this means admission of mistakes and failures. Stubborn pride will dig itself into a deeper hole of distant living before it takes the risk of being found out. However, in reality, discerning people already understand the charade and the manipulation of a man or a woman who is unable to admit faults. Humility can help someone sucked into the seduction of stubborn pride; that stubborn pride melts under the heat of humility.
God has a way of wresting control away from stubborn pride. He will not stand by and allow stubborn pride to suffocate His servants. His passion is to break the spell of stubborn pride and bring it into relational reality. Humility means you fight fair together. You truly listen to the perspective of your spouse or coworker, without reacting defensively or judging too quickly. You are willing to change for the greater good and for the sake of pleasing your Savior.
The Lord loves us too much to stand by while we struggle under the influence of stubborn pride. Like wild stallions with lots of will power and energy, we need brokenness and training. Almighty God is our Master and trainer. He uses whatever means necessary to get our attention. His Holy Spirit is assigned to break our will and align our spirit with His. God is the one trying to get our attention. We may be mad at others, but our case is against Christ.
The Spirit’s conviction is what causes us to cringe and shrink back from stubborn pride’s relational poison. Christ’s brokenness leads us to let go of control and trust Him. He breaks us from the power of ourselves. He breaks us to be bold for Him. He breaks us and molds us into reasonable people who honor the views of others. Do not negotiate with stubborn pride, but break it under the hammer of humility, replacing it with love, respect, and forgiveness. God’s brokenness brings down pride.
“The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:11).
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I have a question about this. It is something i have been struggling with for a long time. I just feel impotent. I don’t know how to change. When in a conflict i will stand my ground firmly convinced or not that i am right. But the truth is that i always doubt if i am right. Growing up in the deep south we were taught to be quiet until spoken to. I never really learned how to speak my mind. So i just dig in with both heels and hope I’m right about at least part of whatever the conflict is about. So the question is if I don’t know how to change and to change one has to do some work, where do I begin?