pride

Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday: Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

March 17, 2014 By Michelle 40 Comments

We are taking a bit of Lenten quiet on Mondays here until Easter. I’m posting a verse, a devotion I wrote for my church’s Lenten booklet and a prayer. Peace be with you, lovely friends…

But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me – and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. So it makes no difference whether I preach or they preach, for we all preach the same message you have already believed. (1 Corinthians 15:10)

I don’t know about you, but when things are going well for me, I often credit myself and my own efforts and forget all about God. I love this verse because it reminds me that God’s abundant and ever-flowing grace is behind every good and positive thing we do and receive. All of our accomplishments, successes and even “good deeds” are the result of God’s blessings and His grace – we can’t take credit for any of it. It’s not simply my good work; it’s the power of God working through me.

I appreciate this verse, too, because it seems like Paul might struggle with this concept of grace a bit. I see him wrestling here, wanting to take credit, reminding us that he has “worked harder than any of the other apostles,” yet in the next breath, acknowledging to both himself and us that he cannot, in fact, pat himself on the back. All the praise goes to God alone. The next time we feel smugly satisfied about a job well-done, let’s stop for a moment of thanksgiving to give credit where credit is due: to God.

Lord, You know my prideful tendency to want to pat myself on the back. Give me a humble spirit, Lord, so that I will praise only You. Amen.

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Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday: When “Pride Goeth Before the Fall” Gets Personal

July 14, 2013 By Michelle 32 Comments

I knew I was in trouble the moment I slipped the necklace into my pants pocket. I stole it right out of my classmate’s desk during math, and the instant I balled the velvet strand and faux sapphire into my corduroys, I knew I was doomed.

Thou shall not steal.

I was only eight years old at the time, but I knew enough to know that I had committed a mortal sin.

I had an out, of course: the confessional. I could have simply walked into the tiny, dim alcove, drawn the burgundy curtain tight behind me, kneeled before the frosted window and confessed my sin to the priest.

But I couldn’t do it.

Alone in my bedroom I practiced what I would say to the shadowy figure who sat hunched behind the filmy window. But when it came time for the actual confession, I froze. I couldn’t get past the lump of fear in my throat.

The truth was, while I was terrified of eternal damnation, I feared the priest’s judgment more. And worse, I feared what I knew the priest would want me to do.

The penance didn’t scare me. I figured I’d get the standard fare – a handful of Our Fathers and Hail Mary’s on my knees in the quiet church. But I also knew the priest would insist I return the necklace to its rightful owner. I couldn’t bear the thought of the public humiliation. I dreaded my classmate’s disdain and my peers’ ridicule. Word would get out that I had stolen the necklace, and I knew my friends would gossip about me behind my back and mock me.

And so, I chose eternal damnation – and ultimately, estrangement from God – to save face.

I think this is true for a lot of us. While we are vigilant about what we consider the big sins, but we often miss the fact that the smaller, seemingly petty sins can be just as destructive. Coveting led me to steal the necklace in the first place, while pride and fear fueled my refusal to repent. True, I sinned when I stole the necklace. But I sinned again, and kept on sinning, when my pride prevented confession.

In the end, the big, scary, mortal sin wasn’t my biggest problem. Pride, it turned out, was my downfall. It was pride, rather than the theft itself, that severed my relationship with God.

“Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18, NLT)

Questions for Reflection:
What small sins are wreaking destruction in your life? Can you think of a time when a seemingly minor sin served to separate you from God?

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Welcome to the “Hear It on Sunday, Use It on Monday” community, a place where we share what we are hearing from God and his Word. If you’re here for the first time, click here for more information.

Please include the Hear It, Use It button (grab the code below) or a link in your post, so your readers know where to find the community if they want to join in — thank you!

Please also try to visit and leave some friendly encouragement in the comment box of at least one other Hear It, Use It participant. And if you want to tweet about the community, please use the #HearItUseIt hashtag.

Thank you — I am so grateful that you are here!

The Hole In Our Gospel: What Will They Think?

November 1, 2011 By Michelle 32 Comments

I admit, I considered trying today’s Hole in our Gospel Action Item – to wear the same clothes two days in a row – but I chickened out. I thought about how that might feel: to wear the exact same shirt, skirt, shoes and jewelry two consecutive days to work. And I knew I couldn’t do it. Not because I’d feel unclean or rumpled, but simply because I’d be embarrassed.

If I’d been able to explain exactly why I was wearing the same outfit two days in a row to my female coworkers (I suspect many of the men wouldn’t have noticed the wardrobe repetition), I might have forged ahead. “It’s a poverty experiment for my church group,” I imagined myself saying. “I’m experiencing what it might be like to own only one set of clothes.”

But I knew that would have defeated the point. After all, people living in dire poverty don’t have the option to explain why they wear the same clothes day after day. Nor do they have to…because it’s a given for them and most of the people they know.

For people living in dire poverty, owning a single set of clothes isn’t an experiment – it’s a reality.

The reason I chose not to wear the same outfit two days in a row is because I was concerned about my coworkers’ judgment. Would they think I was slovenly? Forgetful? Lazy? Would they suspect I’d had a wild night? Would they talk behind my back?

“…Let not the rich boast of his riches…” (Jeremiah 9: 23).

I’ve never considered that my clothes and accessories might be a badge of pride or a form of boasting. After all, I’m not particularly label or brand-conscious. But the fact that I was unwilling to wear the same outfit two days in a row tells me I am prideful indeed.

Lord, thank you for helping me recognize my prideful and boastful ways. Please help me better align my priorities with you, rather than with societal norms and expectations. Help me value kindness, justice and righteous over material possessions, and desire only your delight rather than the shallow praise of my friends.

What about you? Do you think you could wear the exact same outfit two days in a row to work? Or might you chicken out like me?

This post is the last one in the series on The Hole in Our Gospel, by Richard Stearns. Six other writers and I wrote a post a day for six weeks as part of my church’s small group study. Want to read other reflections? Click here. And thanks for coming along on the study!

Image: Pedro Mae, the Bolivian boy we sponsor through Compassion. I suspect he doesn’t have multiple outfits to choose from every day.

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