Tag: Pride

A Thorn Bush

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

vineripenedImpatience is the thorn bush that grows in the soil of pride.  Pride is all about us – our desire, our preference, and our convenience reside at the center of our universe.  Others revolve around us.  When people don’t do what we want, when we want we react with irritation – sometimes contained in resentment and bitterness, sometimes expressed in rage and venom.

– Stanley Gale in A Vine-Ripened Life

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

A Simple Way to Pray Every Day – Nick Aufenkamp (DG)
The problem of our prayerlessness is not simply with our smartphones or schedules. The problem is with our hearts. So, if we really want to grow in our prayer life, we must take aim at something much deeper than surface distractions: our most inward affections and desires.

Pride Is Poisoning Your Happiness – Jonathon Woodyard (DG)
But how do we lean away from pride and toward humility? There are a number of strategies for the fight, but let me focus on just one: consider fighting pride with pleasure.

How Much Entertainment Is Too Much? – Tim Challies
It is good for us to consider the place of entertainment in the Christian life. What is the purpose of entertainment? How much is enough? How much is too much?

Boring Church Services Changed My Life – Daniel Darling  (CT)
Because somewhere in your congregation are children singing words they don’t know, listening to Scripture they don’t understand, and fighting sleep during a sermon that doesn’t hold their interest. They don’t realize it yet, but the Spirit of God is pressing the gospel message, through yet another “boring” church service, deep within their hearts.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

The Character of the Christian: Generous – Tim Challies
It is the Christian’s duty and delight to hold loosely to wealth and to give generously to the Lord’s work. Any problem with money is not the fault of the money itself but with the sneaky, sinful human heart.

What if you’re not as awesome as you think you are? – Denny Burk
There is often a gap between the reality that God sees and the illusions that I sustain in thinking about myself.

25 Quick Tips and Reminders to Help Your Prayer Life – David Qaoud (GR)
17. Meditate on Scripture before prayer as a bridge into prayer.

Nine Questions to Help You Steward All of Your Life for God’s Glory – Brad Hambrick (BCC)
The main thing is to begin to have a vision for life that involves being God’s servant and actively engaging that vision where you are currently equipped.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day celebrating our Lord’s resurrection with your local church!

Sermon Songs: Isaiah 13-24

On By BrianIn Isaiah Hymns

Our God reigns and humbles all pride
All arrogance, conceit
All self-exalting I have tried
He’ll pull down and defeat

And so we grieve, humbly repent
We look to God for grace
To forgive, change our fallen bent
To help us run this race

– From a sermon on Isaiah 13-24
(To the tune of “O God Our Help In Ages Past”)

All About Christ Or Me?

On By BrianIn Humility Quotes1 Comment

One of the biggest threats to incarnational living is pride.  Instead of manifesting Christ’s presence, we want to showcase our own presence; instead of dispensing Christ’s wisdom, we want to spotlight our own insights; instead of speaking Christ’s truth, we want to spout our own opinions; instead of adopting Christ’s agenda, we want to accomplish our own five- or ten-year plans; instead of building Christ’s kingdom, we want to spread our own “ministry.”
– Gary Thomas in Holy Available

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts focusing on specific sins which undoubtedly tempt many of us:

Do You Take Irritibility Seriously? – Phil Ryken (via Crossway)
A helpful exploration of a common sin.  One quote:  We should take our irritability much more seriously, because it is the very opposite of love.

The Lost Sin of Envy
How Envy Behaves
What Envy Wants
This is a challenging three part series by Tim Challies.  One quote:  When you are proud you compare yourself with another person and there are only two possible outcomes: If you believe you come out on top, you feel even more pride; if you believe you come out on the bottom, you feel envy. Envy comes when Pride is wounded.

Pride and Humility – Tim Challies
It appears I’m not the only one focusing on pride and humility.  Challies surveys the definitions of pride and humility from Mack, Mahaney, and several others, and then gives a helpful summary.

Finally, let me share a quote from John Piper in A God Entranced Vision of All Things:
The power of sin comes from its promise of pleasure and is meant to be defeated by the superior promise of pleasure in God.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with God’s people enjoying the superior pleasure found in our Lord!

Pride and Worry

On By BrianIn Humility Quotes

I have to remember that whenever I feel buried under care,
the real issue is pride and my self-sufficiency. 
I must deliberately and specifically cast my cares upon Him
and thereby humble myself.  
Don’t be mistaken.  God hasn’t gone anywhere. 
He’s just as sovereign, just as good, just as faithful.… 
The issue isn’t God.  It’s my pride that resists trusting in Him through dependence upon Him.
– C. J. Mahaney in Humility

Pride and Grumbling

On By BrianIn Humility Quotes1 Comment

Those who grumble and complain about the circumstances of their lives are manifesting a spirit of pride.  A person who complains about his circumstances does so because he thinks he deserves better. 
A humble person, on the other hand, willingly accepts whatever God ordains.  He says with Paul, “I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am” (Phil. 4:11).
– Wayne A. Mack (with Joshua Mack) in Humility