“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:25 NIV)
When I say pride, you may think of someone walking around with their chest poked out bragging about all the good things that they are and do. It’s important to note that pride looks many ways. Pride is simply giving credit to ourselves when we should be acknowledging God. It’s focusing too much on ourselves, whether good or bad, instead of focusing on God. Also, we may not always be boasting, but if we always feel the need to control things because we think we are the only ones who can do it, that may be a sign of pride that leads to a hard heart. Why? Because pride causes us to ultimately trust ourselves and not God, and when we don’t trust God, we are not going to be inclined to allow Him to move our hearts and lead our lives. We’d rather follow our own heart and do what we think is best rather than surrender to God. In our effort to use our own strength to control our lives, we have hardened our hearts to the better plan that God has for us. The cure for this kind of heart is an acknowledgment of God’s greater plans and purposes and trusting Him with our lives. Today, I encourage you to depend on God greater and rely less on your own strength.
Dear Heavenly Father, when I want to be prideful and rely on my own strength, please forgive me. Thank you for helping me to fully trust and rely on You leading my life. In Jesus’ name, amen.