Monday, October 10, 2022 Some material taken from The Church I Want to Belong To Part 3
For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another. For each one will bear his own load. Galatians 6:3-5
Too “Good” to Be Good
In Galatians 6, Paul is talking about taking care of one another with grace. In verse 3 he then turns the focus to the things that we are accountable and responsible for that no one else can do for us. There are some “housekeeping” things that we need to make sure we take care of in our hearts so that we can be ready to take care of others, because that is God’s will.
One of those things is that we need to keep our pride in check. Pride will keep us from having grace for others and bearing each other’s burdens, which is fulfilling the law of Christ. Pride keeps us from caring for others the way God intended, bearing burdens, and ministering. Pride can consume all our considerations and cause us to turn them completely on our own selves.
For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself…
There are few things more self-deceptive than pride. You may think pride is not a problem because you don’t think you are “better” than others, but pride is also about how you spend your resources, like time and money. We selfishly spend our most valuable commodity on ourselves and our own selfish interests instead of sacrificing time to help others, listen to others, or pray with others. We spend our money on the things we want and don’t need instead of giving to someone who has nothing. This is opposite of what the law of Christ tells us. The law of Christ is referenced in verse Galatians 6:2 - Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. The law of Christ that is referenced here is talking about the greatest commandment - One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?” Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:28-31
Pride will keep us from loving people the way God has commanded us.
Pride will keep us from “gently restoring” a brother and sister in Christ.
Pride will keep us from meeting with that person who needs someone to talk to.
Pride will keep us from serving at the homeless shelter.
Pride will keep us from sharing our faith when the Holy Spirit prompts us.
It will blind us to our own sin and selfishness and keep us from seeing the good in others. Because pride keeps us from seeing our own faults, we do not recognize the grace God has given us, even though we are so undeserving. Until we realize this incredible grace we have been given, we cannot pass grace on to others. We cannot grasp the full meaning and value of grace until we see it and feel it in our own lives.
When we begin to share our faith with others, we will naturally evaluate our faith. Do we really live what we are sharing? Do we truly believe in the saving grace of God? The words are heavy when we begin to realize that we are responsible for what we tell others about God. We become very reflective about our faith, what it truly means to us and what our living testimony looks like to others. What we do, what we say, and how we treat others matters and it is magnified when we begin to declare our own faith.
The law of Christ is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Love is the law of Christ. Pride makes us love ourselves more than others. Pride has to go for us to fulfill the law of Christ, and to share His grace and love effectively to other Christians that may need to be gently restored, as well as to a hurting world.
LC
