On Guard Against Pride

January 12, 2010 – 9:35 am

The post-SGI Conference week is here. I’m filling out paperwork, finalizing details, and reflecting on the blur that was last Monday-Wednesday. As I reflect on God’s gracious work, I am reminded of Pastor Doran’s closing admonition (last 5 minutes) to

be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might, [because] our God is a God of truth and righteousness. He is stronger than any foe, and He has given us armor. Stand in His armor. Take it up. Put it on. Because the devil cannot penetrate that. If you will depend on His strength and dress in His armor, you will stand firm and Godly ambitions placed in your heart will come to fruition. Godly committments made under the authority of His Word, by His Spirit, will bear fruit that will resonate for God’s glory for all eternity. Stand firm by depending on Him and dressing in His armor.

My prayer is that all attendees would continue to stand, to persevere in their love for the Word and commitment to put on the armor of God. The biggest danger we face after times of spiritual renewal and excitement is pride. The sly serpent would love for us to turn a worshipful, edifying experience into a platform on which pride can perform. We must fight this temptation and look to the cross of Jesus for proper perspective.

Just before I sat down to type this post I read a letter from a God-centered ministry regarding King David and the destructive pride that followed his chain of successes. A few paragraphs in the middle of the letter gripped my mind as we come off a wonderfully-enriching SGI conference:

Had a man ever been so blessed by God? Every promise to him had been kept. Everything David touched had flourished. Never had Israel as a nation been so spiritually alive, so politically stable, so wealthy, so militarily powerful.

And at the peak of this unprecedented prosperity, David had committed such heinous sin. Why? How could he have resisted so many temptations in dangerous, difficult days and then yielded at the height of success?

Almost as soon as the question formed in his mind he knew the answer. Pride. Monstrous, self-obsessed pride.

These words served as a sobering reminder to me that I need to be on guard against the subtleties of pride, attacking it at the root with gospel truths. May this serve as a warning to you, too, to be on guard against putting confidence in the arm of the flesh. Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might!