In the battle of the Christian against sin, it seems that external, visible sins are easier to combat, for example, to quit smoking or cursing. The internal ones like lust or pride are far more intractable. Yesterday as I reflected on this, i believe that the Holy Spirit revealed to me that pride meant loving ourselves more than God. When Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment of all, He responded "and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." ( Mark 12:30)Pride places our love for one's self as more important than our love for God. The Scripture acknowledges that we love ourselves when it says "for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it..." (Ephesians 5:29) Yet this understanding of our love for ourself should lead us to a greater love for God.
Spiritual pride seems like the worst manifestation of our love for one's self over God. What do we have that we have not received? We deserve eternal punishment. Romans 14 says in three separate places not to judge our brothers. In context, this refers to things which are not foundational doctrine. In other words, it is permissible to see some things differently. Yet our pride says that we are 100% correct in all our convictions, doctrines, interpretations and applications, even when we change our position. Lord God, may i love you more than myself.
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