This week I decided to make some soup. It was the kind that you just use what you have leftover from different things. I grew up watching my mom make soup this way. We were pretty poor growing up and often didn’t have food in the house, so every little scrap that could be used was used, and more often than not we got a “leftover soup”. This week we had some different odds and ends of things that I decided to turn into a “leftover soup” of my own.
I used my handy-dandy Instapot, added some beef, assorted veggies, broth I’d saved from a recent pot roast, and a little bit of lentils and quinoa I had been saving for such a time as this. The soup had cooked, it was still pretty brothy (totally a word), and I decided to add a little more quinoa and lentils. When it had cooked some more… it was no longer soup! I ended up with a sludge-looking goup. It smelled delicious, but MAN did it look nasty! Who would want to eat this goupy (again, totally a word) looking mess?
Seeing myself in this goupy mess
Here I am staring at this not-soup-goup and, as silly as it sounds, I saw myself. I look at this soup and say to myself “it should look different”, “this couldn’t be very good”, “this is not worth having”, “my mom’s always looked so much better”, “if I had just done something different…”.
In reality, I ate some not-soup-goup and what’d you know? It was delicious, filled with nutrition, and will feed my family all week. This felt so much like God’s work in my life. So often I feel like the different struggles, experiences, pains, joys, and in-betweens have nothing to do with each other. How could this heartache have anything to do with that joy over there? How could this blessing have to do with that struggle? How could these pieces possibly fit together? Simple.
28 We know that all things work together[a] for the good[b] of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
God works in everything, every circumstance, every pain, every joy, every gain, every loss. God planned you and took pleasure in you before He even made the universe. You are exactly who God made you to be, where He called you to be, and He has a plan for your life that was made specifically for you. Every detail of your life is used for His purposes. All the experiences of your life; past, present, and future, God uses to grow, steep, stew, and brew you into the complete creation He intends you to become. It may look like a goupy mess now, but remember that God’s not done with you yet.
4 For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.[a]5 He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.
16 “For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Reading Luke 18 this week I was struck. Jesus is telling us about a Pharisee and a tax collector who were both praying. The Pharisee thanked God that he was not like “other men”, while the tax collector prayed for God to have mercy on him.
The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed[a] thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
Have you looked at someone and thought “at least I am not as bad as them”, “at least I have this and not that”, “thank you God that I am not like that person”, “I may mess up, but at least I haven’t messed up as bad as them”?
Do you tend to beat yourself up thinking, “I’m not good enough”, “I can’t be useful to God”, “I’m not nearly as good as them”, “their life looks so perfect, I want their life, car, home, husband, friends, job,” “I want that body, I need to be thinner, taller, shorter, larger”?
When we compare, we in our pride are telling God that His design is not good enough. We place God in a box and say His sacrifice wasn’t enough, and His plan isn’t good enough. When we don’t put on the identity we have in Christ, we slap God in the face and tell Him He made a mistake.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.[a] The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Comparisons are dangerous and tell God “the way you made me, and the life you have called me to isn’t enough”. It tells Christ that His blood that was shed for you wasn’t enough.
Judgment and comparison affect the heart and blinds us to our sin. Like the tax collector, we must acknowledge that we are all sinners in need of repentance, forgiveness, grace, and mercy and likewise are called to show forgiveness, grace, and mercy. We are called to imitate Christ and lead others to Him through our lives and testimonies. Grace and mercy leave no room for prideful comparisons. In being imitators of Christ, we should bear the fruit of His gracious Spirit rather than the sinful fruits of this dark world.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Where do you need to rest in the life God has blessed you with? Where do you need to repent, to be grateful, to forgive, to extend grace? Where do you need to let God in and turn the goup into a delicious, satisfying, eternal relationship with Him? Where do you need to stop comparing and start glorifying?
Give it all to God today and thank Him for the life you’re in. He is making you into a beautiful masterpiece and loves you just the way you are, goup and all.
No matter how rocky my family relationships were, they were always the most important thing in my life. I sacrificed much for them and did whatever I could to get their approval for years. If I had read Luke 14:26 while I was growing up I would have completely missed the point. At the stage in my life that I am now, all purely by the grace of God, I have a godly husband and child, have forgiven, am healing broken relationships with my family, and have a growing relationship with God through the blood of Jesus Christ. I can now better understand what Jesus is saying when He tells says to hate your family.
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.
When I first became a follower of Jesus I had no one in my life that understood, and most people discouraged me from going down this path at all. I was often mocked for my faith, my shortcomings were hung over me, and I was treated as though I could never be different, that my faith was a joke, and that it was for no one’s good. I lost my friends, I grew distant from my family, and I took time to focus on my relationship with God, my understanding of His Word, and being filled with the strength I needed to stand firm.
Luke 14 came to me again after spending some time with my dad recently, after not seeing him for around two years. In all that time I’d thought I was going to be separated from them forever. I thought I would never have a good relationship with my family. No matter how broken and hurtful my relationships were with my family, I have always deeply desired to be in a relationship with as much of my family as possible. I am big on family and this separation ate at me. I had made peace with being separated from them, though, because I knew God had called me to withdraw and I trusted His plan, even if it hurt and didn’t make sense to me at the time.
Pin me for later!
God removes distractions to bring our focus to Him
Sometimes God will call us away from relationships in order to rightly align our hearts to Him. In Luke 14:26 Jesus is telling us that we should love Him so much that it would seem in comparison that we hate our own family. He is not saying to actually hate your family but to put obedience to and love for Him first no matter the cost. He is telling us that there is a cost to following Him and that we must be willing to put His will and instruction first in our lives at all times, no matter what that cost is, even unto our own lives.
To follow Christ we must to be willing to give our full life to Him
I experienced this on a bit of an extreme level over the last several years. After a while, I was willing to give up these relationships with my family in order to honor and obey God. In this willingness to obediently sacrifice these relationships, God changed my heart and my priorities. I no longer live to serve other’s expectations or desires for me or fulfill the labels people have given me all my life. I am firmly planted as a Child of God, and His will is the only one I strive to follow. This has brought me peace, joy, and great humility. God has been healing me and teaching me His truth, love, and kindness.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has[a] come!
The last conversation I had with my family was that of forgiveness, love, and renewal. God has changed my heart, aligning my life and heart with Him, so that now I can be effective in all the work He has created for me to do for His glory, which includes being an example to my family. I prayed for them the whole time of separation, and I am seeing that God has been working in them as well. We are all works in progress, and He is always working in all of us whether we recognize it or not.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
If you love Him, you will obey Him. If you obey Him in faith and love, you will find such great blessing, humility, mercy, and grace. You will experience what love really means and truly feels like.
So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Pride is a dangerous thing, and certainly something no one wants to admit to. Knowing that pride began with Satan and influenced people all the wayback in the Garden of Eden tells us that pride is a tactic Satan is going to keep planting and using for his purposes. Humility is the opposite of pride. It is important to understand and know where it comes from as well in order to better identify pride, defeat it, warn against it and keep your heart clean of it. So, what is the source of humility and how can we identify it against the sin of pride?
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
God opposes pride. Scripture tells us that pride will bring destruction and will be broken down. If we choose to let pride grow in our hearts, fail to repent of it, and humble ourselves, we see examples from cover to cover that God will humble us Himself. How do we know, though, when we are in need of humbling? How do we know when God is warning us against pride?
5 In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”[a]
A great example in scripture can be found in Daniel. God had given Judah over to King Nebuchadnezzar, who took some young men captive to serve in his household. Among them were Daniel (renamed Belteshazzar), Mishael (renamed Meshach), Hananiah (renamed Shadrach), and Azariah (renamed Abed-Nego). They were sent into the care of the eunuchs. From there, they were in the epicenter of the gluttonous court of King Nebuchadnezzar.
In his humility and trust in the Lord, Daniel stood up boldly in the promises of God and watched as God fulfilled His promises. King Nebuchadnezzar continued in his self-serving pride and God constantly used Daniel to warn the king and encourage him. Again in pride, the king kept on in his sin. Just as God fulfilled His promises to save the humble again and again, He also fulfilled His promise that pride leads to destruction.
The sin of pride is a powerful tool the enemy uses and tricks us into believing we are greater than, know better than, can do better than God. Pride says “my way is best”, and humility says “God’s way is best”.
When we remain in our pride, God will humble us. When we fail to heed God’s warnings, He will humble us. When we fail to warn one another of the dangers of pride, we too are responsible because we choose to disobey God and not lead someone in the ways and promises of the Most High. He will humble us when we fail to place Him as the ultimate authority in every area of our lives, and the One who is worthy of all glory, honor, and praise.
7 “So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have [a]delivered your soul.
Humility comes from God, and to humble ourselves is to be in submission to our Holy God, recognizing His power and authority. The point is to bring us to repentance.
Even at the threat of death, while the king was murdering those who didn’t do as he commanded, Daniel stood up, stood out, and set himself apart for the Lord in faithful humility. He warned the king, the king made his choices, but Daniel was blameless and God protected him. The king was prideful and God cast him out in order to bring him to repentance. God absolutely expects the same of us, and will fulfill His promises in our lives as well.
Who are you most resembling in your life right now?
Take a look at this story of Daniel and King Nebuchadnezzar again and ask yourself the following questions:
Do you stand firm in the promises of God, even at great threat of danger, or do you seek to please the appeals and demands of people to avoid conflict or discomfort?
But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
Do you praise God in all circumstances, giving Him the glory, credit and honor, or do you take the credit for yourself, and praise yourself and things of the world instead?
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness;[a]
Do you trust that God knows best even when we only see a piece of the situation, disagree or don’t understand, or do you seek to control situations and rest on your own understandings instead?
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
Trust God, humble yourself before Him, accept His correction, and obey His instruction. Pride comes before destruction, but God will bless the humble. Set the example for others around you, and encourage others in humility. Don’t fall into the trap of pride and remain there, but if you fall in know that you can trust God to also fulfill His promise to forgive, redeem, and restore you.
Is pride a habit you need to kick?
I encourage you to pray wholeheartedly for God to reveal any unchecked pride in you, to clean your heart, restore you, and redirect your eyes in humility to God Almighty, our Mighty Promise Keeper.
Pride is an uncomfortable topic. It is something we can usually identify in others pretty easily, but we typically fail to see it in ourselves. Pride makes it easy to point fingers, to pass judgment, and frequently leads to unkindness and even slander. Pride ultimately leads to destruction if not checked and corrected. What are the signs of pride? How can we identify pride in ourselves, and why should we?
18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before [a]a fall.
Ever since mankind has been betrayed by the lies of Satan. In his pride, he desires to be like God, to be placed above God, and we are God’s image-bearers whom God loves. We are who God sent His Son as a sacrifice for. Satan will do anything he can to lead us further and further away from God, and pride is his fuel and one of his weapons against us.
He also gives some statistics I was honestly sad to discover, that as of 2009 only 35% of American Christians believe Satan is real. The same enemy who brought division and lies between God and Adam and Eve does the same to you and me. In his pride Satan wants to steer us away from God, convince us that God is not real or at least that He is not good, all while hiding that he, too, is a very real enemy.
He knows that if we believe he is our real enemy then we will also learn the truth, that he has no power over us unless we let him because Jesus has already defeated him and will one day defeat him once and for all. His days are certainly numbered (Revelation 12; Revelation 19). In the meantime, he is working hard to separate as many people as he can from the Love and Truth of God, all fueled by his pride.
Satan is the source of pride in this world. In his pride, he plants seeds of prideful ideas and desires in our hearts that when allowed to grow give birth to sin and leads to division, death and destruction throughout our lives and our relationship with God.
15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Satan is a very real enemy whose methods stem from his own pride and lead to our own sin from pride. His desires are to steal, kill and destroy all righteousness and godliness.
8 Be [a]sober, be [b]vigilant; [c]because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Knowing that Satan is a real enemy and the source of pride means that we know what we are fighting against. Our enemy is not the guy who cut us off on the freeway, the neighbor who blocked your car in the driveway, the spilled coffee in your lap… the enemy, though, certainly wants you to think that it is God’s fellow creations, image-bearers, and blessings that are to blame. He wants you to take on his own pride and point anywhere but him as the source of ill and evil around you. He wants to create division and destruction and lead you away from holiness and a right relationship with God.
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the [a]wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [b]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
In Isaiah, we see a pattern that gives us a clear indication of pride. The “5 I will statements” refers to claims from Satan who wanted to be above God and like God. Satan wants to have God’s power. In his pride, he thinks he could overthrow God and take His place, but fortunately for all of creation, God is God no matter what Satan thinks or does.
12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O [a]Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! 13 For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ 15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the [b]lowest depths of the Pit.
Ask yourself these questions, and reference them back to those “5 I will statements”.
Do you tend to think you know best, or that you should always handle things yourself?
Do you lean on your own council, ideas and desires?
Do you tend to put yourself before others?
Do you tend to follow your own path and plans?
Do you tend to trust yourself most and place your own desires as the most important?
How do you hold up? Are you lining up more with Satan’s pride, or with faithful obedience to God?
It is not too late to turn from pride and seek to live as God has called us all to. It is not too late to give your pride to God, repent, and let Him clean your heart and renew your spirit.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
We are each responsible for our choices and responses to Satan’s lies, and we are responsible for what happens with the seeds of pride he wants to plant in our hearts. We can choose to pretend this enemy does not exist, and to allow his influence over us, make excuses, point the finger, or even beat ourselves up – or we can take it all to God with a repentant heart, willing to surrender to His will and power in our lives, and accept His invitation into a relationship with Him through faith in Christ as your Savior. Once accepted, we must live in it. Let God in, and let His Spirit work in you to fight this sin and pride at its source and start.
Choose righteousness, repentance, and surrender every day. Choose to acknowledge this very real enemy, and also recognize our very real God who has power over all things, has defeated him already, and is our righteous Protector, Provider, and Promise Keeper. Choose to use the tools God has given us to fight against selfish pride and sin.
I encourage you to pray for God to reveal any pride in you that needs to be cleaned up. It hides in nooks, crannies, and crevices we don’t think to look, but God sees it all and wants us to be His holy and blameless people. We will never be perfect, but we should be seeking to be more like Christ every day and less like our old selves. Shed the pride and let God truly be sovereign in your life.
Choose God today, and every day, and cast pride out at its source.
How can I pray for you?
How can we as a community pray for you, encourage you, and help you on this journey? Let us know in the comments or feel free to request a private prayer. I love to pray over my brothers and sisters in Christ!
Welcome!
I am a wife, mom, writer, crafter, and above all, a Child of God. I love to study the Bible, fellowship with other Christians, and serve God. I am thrilled to invite you to join me in seeking to satisfy our thirsty souls with the Living Water of Christ, which is what Water On Thirsty Land is here to do.
