Last Night at Lifegroup we were discussing pride, and it was great to listen to each person & hear their input. As I lay in bed last night after getting home, I thought about this a little more. I began to think of all the things that people invest themselves into, very good things sometimes too. I thought about family and how it can be so easy to sink your identity into what your kids are doing, or where you're from. I think about finances & savings and the stock market and how easy it is to sink your identity into what those things are doing. I think about a place of employment and how easy it is to sink your identity into a new promotion or finding your way to the top of the success ladder. I think about the opposite sex and how easy it is to sink your identity into doing whatever it takes to find someone to be with, no matter what they are like, as long as there is someone. I think about the pursuit of knowledge and how easy it is to sink your identity into how many degrees you can receive or how you can debate anyone into submission. I think about church and how easy it is to sink your identity into the work you do at church and a certain status within the church. It was a busy night inside my head as my wife drifted off to sleep! :) Then God reminded me, pride is anything we choose to sink our identity into that is not Jesus Christ. It is prideful to place anything in the position that can only be occupied by Jesus. The identity of man was always meant to be in Jesus Christ, and not anything of this world. Even unbelievers' identity is meant to be in Jesus Christ, it's just elusive since like many others they look elsewhere to find this.
Please consider today what you may be sinking your identity into that may seem harmless but is pointing away from the real core of who you are. There are many wonderful things God has blessed us with in life, but the identity our souls are longing for is only found in one place, Jesus Christ. When we accept this, pride is crushed and we do what we do for a much higher purpose.
Have a wonderful day friends.
