From the heart of the
pastor:
“…and
the boastful pride of life” (I
Jn. 2:16c).
When Jesus was about
thirty years of age, He “was led about by the Spirit
in the wilderness for forty days being tempted by
the devil” (Lk. 4:1). One of the temptations
designed by the tempter was to determine the measure
of Jesus’ boastful pride of life. The serpent
offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world on one
condition: “If You worship before me” (Lk. 4:7).
Jesus refused His
tempter’s enticement. Would you have done what
Jesus did? Do you have that firmness in your
spirit?
What is the boastful
pride of life? Any exaggeration of who you are that
you intend to impress and manipulate the one you
desire to deceive. Satan did not possess all of the
kingdoms of the world as he claimed. God is the
owner of all things with Satan merely having a
finite leasehold estate. Satan offered what was not
his to offer in order to obtain what was not his.
He does the same with you today.
Before you can engage in
effective battle with Satan, you must first
determine who you are. If someone were to ask you
to identify yourself or to write your own obituary,
what would you say or write? Perhaps it would be
helpful to review the resumes of the saints:
- Peter identifies
himself as “a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus
Christ” (II Pe. 1:1)
- James identifies
himself as “a bond-servant of God and of the Lord
Jesus Christ” (Js. 1:1)
- Jude identifies
himself as “a bond-servant of Jesus Christ, and
brother of James” (Jude 1:1)
Each of these ageless
saints ties his identity to the One he worships –
not to himself.
The boastful pride of
life biases it possessor to exaggerate his
identity. Fallen natures remain fallen even when
regenerated by the Holy Spirit, just to a
progressively lessening degree (a/k/a
sanctification).
Your boastful pride of
life will be unmasked as you present yourself to
others. Those presenting themselves via their
possessions, positions and pleasures rather than
their relationship with Christ are laden with this
world’s boastful pride. Jesus referred to none of
these worldly trappings in His presentation of
Himself, neither did Peter, James or Jude.
Man’s mind is a natural
incubator of boastfulness. Paul writes, “But may it
never be that I should boast, except in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14). Paul is dead to
this world’s honors, are you?
The only pride that you
should ever express is in what Christ has done for
you. He is your esteem, not you or your spouse or
your children or your worldly attachments. The man
who serves as his own champion will find himself
immersed in a languishing life.
