Title: vain pride
vain pride
Text: 2 Corinthians 10:17 “He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord”
Aesop's tales also include: A deer was thirsty and went to the lakeside to drink. At this time, the deer looked at my shadow in the water. His multi-pronged antlers in the shape of a tree branch he thought were very beautiful. But the next moment, when he saw his slender legs, he lamented why he didn't want to see his legs. "These legs are not as good as without them," the deer was muttering to himself, just then, a lion appeared and followed him to slaughter and eat the deer. The deer ran into the woods, relying on the slender legs that had given him a pintacle as a useless object. However, the antler, which I thought was beautiful, got caught in the ear of the tree, and sadly the deer became the food of the lion. Poor deer lamented this. “I was able to save my life thanks to my legs, which I used to only curse at, but the horns I was proud of made me look like this.”
Sometimes this happens in our human life as well. Insignificant honesty, faith, and love save lives rather than honor that looks beautiful. You should avoid relying on useless things that only look beautiful.
The Bible says
"He who brags, so that it may be done, as it is written, Boast in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:31).
“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16).
“Now that ye boast in vain boasting, all such boasting is evil” (James 4:16).
Once upon a time, a peacock couple raised their beautiful only daughter, a peacock, and sent her to the forest to marry. But soon after, the married daughter flew to her parents' house with a lot of grass dead. When the mother asked the story, the daughter complained. "Mom! All the birds of the forest are chasing me. I can't stand being lonely. Even my husband doesn’t understand.”
The seasoned mother guessed something and asked. “Did you, at any time in the forest, show off in front of other birds with your tails wide open? Am I right?” The daughter said, startled when her mother knew what she was doing. "Mom! Our tail is a gift from God, how about spreading it out a little?”
Mom said. "Hey! God didn't give us to shame others! There is a ‘gentleman golf common sense’ in golf, which means that if there are people around who don’t play golf, they will never talk about golf! Do you understand what that means?” The daughter nodded and flew into the woods, and from then on she got along well with the other birds.
There are people in the world who like to brag. These are the people who cannot endure without showing people what they have. But we should know that many of the things that humans boast and promote are vain and worthless. Because people boast and promote things that are not eternal, nor are they true. When everything goes well and people compliment us a lot, our hearts are filled with pride, and without realizing it, our hearts overflow with pride.
A young man did a very good job and received an award. In particular, the giver praised him a bit too much, and the young man took the compliment seriously. So he went home and told his mother exactly what the rewarder had said, without taking away a single compliment. Then he paused for a moment and asked his mother.
“Mother, how many great people do you think there are in the world right now?” Then the mother thought about the intent of her son's question and answered wisely. "Son, I don't know the details, but there will probably be one fewer than you think." Hearing this mother's words, the young man realized his arrogance and immediately repented. Self-congratulations are always bittersweet. So the Bible says.
“Do not praise thee with your mouth, for you will cause others to praise you” (Proverbs 27:2).
Hezekiah boasted by showing all his treasuries, armory, and storehouses to the Babylonian messengers, but eventually everything in the royal palace was taken and he was taken captive among his sons and became an eunuch of the royal palace in Babylon (2 Kings 20:13-18). And Acts In 8:4-24, a magician named Simon surprised the people of Samaria with his magic for a long time and called himself a great man. But when Jesus' disciples saw the power to cast out unclean spirits and heal the paralytic and the lame, There is a story of people getting scolded after thinking of buying the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit with money to surprise people.
Pride can be a robber of God's glory by trying to reveal himself and stealing God's glory. People in the world try to show off their talents and wealth, cover up their weaknesses as much as possible, and hide what they haven't learned. However, people of faith give up their weaknesses, ignorance, insults, and even privations. Rather, he brags about his folly and foolishness. Because our weakness and folly reflect the strength and wisdom of Jesus. Sometimes we are disappointed to see the foolishness of our family and neighbors. But we must believe that the glory of God will be revealed through their weakness.
“If I must boast, I will boast in my weakness” (2 Corinthians 11:30).
“Therefore, on the contrary, with great rejoicing, I will boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Dear brothers and sisters, I pray in the name of the Lord that we will all put away our vain boasting and become blessed saints who, as people of God, spread the Lord's love to our neighbors according to the Lord's will.
* Prayer: Thank you, Heavenly Father, who will receive the glory alone for ever and ever. I complain about what I don't have, I'm proud of what I have, and I repent of my exaltation. May I be satisfied with the grace you have given me and serve you with the things you have given me. And I also repent that I had an unrighteous heart that wanted to reveal myself more moment by moment while doing the Lord's work and to be recognized by people. Let me stand as one who boasts only of the cross. Please follow the example of the apostle Paul, so that we can boast only in God and be humble enough to exalt you to the fullest. I pray in Jesus name. Amen.