Pride!

Pride! Sometimes the simple truths are the most profound. Such is the case in the words of Jesus spoken in John 7, shown above. Remember, Jesus went up to the feast privately, so as to not bring attention to Himself.

14 Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.

15 And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?
16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.
(John 7:14-18, King James Version)

Sometimes the simple truths are the most profound. Such is the case in the words of Jesus spoken in John 7, shown above. Remember, Jesus went up to the feast privately, so as to not bring attention to Himself. Ever doing the will of God and fulfilling His reason for being here, Jesus went into the temple and began to teach.

Who was this Jesus? The people were amazed; He was not a Rabbi, learned in the Scriptures, so how did He understand so much? Jesus' answer was quite simple, "This is not my doctrine, but rather the doctrine of God who sent me here to teach it to you."

Again, we see the theme begun earlier in this chapter. Jesus was not here to bring attention to Himself. He even explains that one of the ways to recognize the truth of the Gospel is to understand that the teacher is not bringing honor and glory to Himself, but rather is pointing the people to God.

Pride! What a difficult hurdle for all of us! How quick are we to bring attention to ourselves? How we like the spotlight! And, when we accomplish great things, the praise of others feels so warm and enjoyable.

Do we ever see pride in the preaching ministry? Do we see famous "religious" people who bathe in the praise of men?

What about in our own lives? Does our own arrogance keep us from sharing the Gospel of Christ with others? Are we more afraid of not being accepted by men, or of not being accepted by God? After all, that is also the sin of pride!

As a Christian, what impresses you the most about other Christians? I hope you will say, "I am most impressed by the Christians who bring no attention to themselves, but happily and quietly serve the Lord in whatever limited capacity they have."

That really is the meaning of the Christian life, is it not? God so loved us--as we must so love others!

He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.