Grace Baptist Church of Arlington

I mentioned earlier that I’ve recently been reading Chris Brauns’ book Unpacking Forgiveness.  There are several reasons that I’d recommend this book, but if nothing else, I’d recommend this book for Brauns insights on page 81.  That page is stuffed full of things that challenged my heart.  Just consider this insight on pride:

“Pride is not limited to arrogance or cockiness; it is not just an inflated opinion of oneself.  Pride is any way of putting self into the central focus.”[1]

Helpfully Brauns goes on to offer a list of questions to help his readers think about how pride might be expressing itself in our lives.  Consider his questions and reflections from, you guessed it, page 81!

“Are you overly critical? Discernment is a good thing (Philippians 1:9-11; Romans 12:1-2). But discerning people sometimes go a step too far in feeling the need to critique everything. Pride is the root problem.

“Are you insecure? Insecurity often betrays a person too narrowly focused on self.

“Are you shy? For instance, are you unwilling to pray in front of others? Is it because your central concern is how you will appear in front of others?

“Are you overly sensitive? People who are too sensitive sometimes imagine criticisms when they have not been given because they center too much on themselves.

“Do you tend to presume upon others? Are you slow to meet with others or follow through? Do you do poorly at returning phone calls? Any of those may reflect a tendency to elevate self.

“Are you impatient with the shortcomings of others?  Do you ever get frustrated and use the phrase, ‘I don’t have time for this’?  Who does not have time?

“Do you find yourself easily embarrassed by friends or family? This many indicate that you are too concerned with how others make you appear.

“Are you given to worry? Worry may betray self-reliance (or at least relying on someone other than God).”[2]

If you’ve reflected carefully upon Brauns’ questions, then I assume you’ve found yourself to be tempted toward pride in some way or another.  What should we do in the face of our pride?  Look to Christ! Look to the one who humbled himself for you.  Your pride and mine put him to death, and yet his humility saved us from eternal death.  Praise God for Christ’s humility.  Love Christ and imitate his humility, so that God might be glorified and so that others might come to know what his humility has secured for them if they would repent and believe.

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[1] Chris Brauns, Unpacking Forgiveness, p.81

[2] Ibid., p.81

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