Pride Causes Terrible Problems - II Samuel 9-11 and Luke 15:11-32
I have found that I react in pride more times than I think I do. Even though I am not an arrogant person, I have more pride than I want to have. It lies under the surface, instead of being right out where everyone can see it. It causes me a lot of trouble, and I want to get rid of it.
David was not an overly proud person. Look at his kindness toward Jonathan's son and even toward the king of Ammon when his father died. However, he did react to the insult his men received in a way that showed some pride, and the young king of Ammon's pride caused him to suffer a terrible defeat. The place where David's pride showed up was in the sin with Bathsheba. He was wrong to look at her and to lust for her. He was wrong to bring her to his house and to get her pregnant. There was an amount of pride in these actions in that he considered himself able to get away with these things since he was the king. However, at this point in the story his pride really made things worse. He brought Uriah home to cover his sin, and then, he had him killed, so he committed murder. All of this could have been prevented, if he would have confessed his sin and repented. His pride prevented that, so it led to many serious problems, which we will read about later. That is a good example of why we need to put away pride.
In Luke 15 the same is true. The younger son leaves home in pride and squanders his inheritance. However, he returns in humility after putting his pride aside. The father does not act in pride either. He receives his son home with joy. Then, it is the older brother who has the pride problem, and it leads him to be mad at his father and his brother, instead of having joy. What a shame! He missed the joy of the lost one coming home because of pride. That is true of a lot of Christians today. We are so wrapped up in pride we miss the miracle of salvation when it comes into our lives. Let's all learn this lesson and put away pride from our lives.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Samuel 12-13 and Luke 16.
David was not an overly proud person. Look at his kindness toward Jonathan's son and even toward the king of Ammon when his father died. However, he did react to the insult his men received in a way that showed some pride, and the young king of Ammon's pride caused him to suffer a terrible defeat. The place where David's pride showed up was in the sin with Bathsheba. He was wrong to look at her and to lust for her. He was wrong to bring her to his house and to get her pregnant. There was an amount of pride in these actions in that he considered himself able to get away with these things since he was the king. However, at this point in the story his pride really made things worse. He brought Uriah home to cover his sin, and then, he had him killed, so he committed murder. All of this could have been prevented, if he would have confessed his sin and repented. His pride prevented that, so it led to many serious problems, which we will read about later. That is a good example of why we need to put away pride.
In Luke 15 the same is true. The younger son leaves home in pride and squanders his inheritance. However, he returns in humility after putting his pride aside. The father does not act in pride either. He receives his son home with joy. Then, it is the older brother who has the pride problem, and it leads him to be mad at his father and his brother, instead of having joy. What a shame! He missed the joy of the lost one coming home because of pride. That is true of a lot of Christians today. We are so wrapped up in pride we miss the miracle of salvation when it comes into our lives. Let's all learn this lesson and put away pride from our lives.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Samuel 12-13 and Luke 16.