The Bible tells us that there is no one that is righteous and that there is no one that is good. Romans 3:10-18 says,
"10 as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."
13 "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips."
14 "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."
15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known."
18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. That is we have no righteousness of our own to speak of. We have all missed the mark. We have all failed at reaching God's high standards on our own. There is not one of us that is good enough on our own to earn forgiveness of our sins and there is not one of us that is good enough to enter into Heaven based upon our own goodness.
The Lord Jesus Christ died on the Cross for our sins past, present, and future. We must repent of our sins. That is we must come into to agreement with God about the sin in our lives and be willing to change direction by receiving Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and trust in His Righteousness. We are saved by Grace through placing our faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ and we have nothing to boast about whatsoever.
Sometimes pride is stirred up in a believers life and it draws us away from the truth of who God is. Pride can wreck our witness for the Lord and bring dishonor to Him and other believers. It is all too easy to get prideful especially when we fail to give the praise that we receive to the Lord Himself. For example, when we receive a complement for something that the Lord has enabled us to do, such as a sermon or an act of service that the Lord directs us to, and we fail to pass that one to the Lord it could possibly plant a seed of pride if we are not careful.
I am reminded of Luke 18:9-14 which says,
"9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:
10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.'
13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."
In this parable that Jesus told the Pharisee was full of pride and self-righteousness. The Pharisee thought he was very religious because of all the good the he had done and by doing so felt like he was justified by God. The other man, the tax collector, couldn't even bring himself to look up to Heaven, and said, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."
Jesus said that this man went home justified before God while the Pharisee did not. God can work through us for His purposes when we come humbly to Him. We must be careful in our walk with Christ and not allow pride to blind us. We must deny ourselves daily while taking up our cross and follow Jesus wherever He would have us to go.
May we humble ourselves before the Lord and walk with our eyes upon Him.
Lord, Heavenly Father,
We praise Your Name.
We confess that sometimes pride stirs up in our hearts.
We ask You to help us to repent of that pride and help us to be humble servants giving You all the Glory, Honor, and Praise.
Lead us and guide us by Your Holy Spirit.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.
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