M.O.M. CHALLENGE DAY 12

Monday, March 12, 2012

M.O.M. CHALLENGE DAY 12 "THE FLIP SIDE OF PRIDE"

Solomon continues offering us his golden nuggets about wise living. Work hard, give much, and deal honestly: those are a few of GOD's favorite things. (While a few of my favorite things are still raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...) When will the wicked learn that wickedness never wins? I guess that will be on the day of judgement (when it will be too late)....Too late means... well, too late!

Goodness and wisdom walk together holding hands. Kinda' like pride and shame, let me explain...Solomon must have known a thing or two about the connection between pride, humility, and shame because he wrote about them a lot. He found out that shame is the only possible result of pride...hmmm. Shame is that horribly awful, kick-you-in-the-gut sort of emotion that wants to linger no matter what the TRUTH tells you...and you just have to shake it loose in faith once you have been found guilty and then repented. JESUS will stand in your place when the grim reaper of shame comes to collect on your debt of sins whether from pride or whatever...pride goes before the fall and a wise person will just accept that right now....stop fighting it...stop trying to one up reality, because it may not happen today, but mark my words one day you will be in a position of humility...everyone is eventually.  At that point if you have not been practicing the art of humility it is just gonna be ugly & awkard for ya'. I'm just sayin'.

Think about that for a moment...and ask yourself, "Is this hoity-toity pride really getting me anywhere?" I can answer that right now, "NOPE!" If you are a person given to pride (and if you are human you prolly are) I can tell you honestly that if you do not deal with your pride regularly and repent of it regularly the people in your life who know you the best are already thinkin' that you are "Estupido"! (They are all thinking it, I just said it!) You could humble yourself right now and ask GOD if you have dealt with your pride HIS way, 'cause HE's got your back. Proverbs 12:1 says "Anyone who loves learning accepts correction, but a person who hates being corrected is stupid." (NLT) & Proverbs 12:16 says "Fools think they are doing right, but the wise listen to advice," So take my advice and go talk to GOD right now! (I'll still be here when you get back!)

Sure the people in your life may bow down to you and tell you what they know you want to hear because they have to to get their needs met...whatever twisted needs they may be. HOW SAD! Even GOD, the Creator of the Universe chooses to be humbled by love...as evidence in the fact that HE does not force anyone to love HIM...sure, HE could, but that is NOT HIS nature, therefore as a child of GOD it should not be in our nature either! People of pride get away with it for a time, but the grim reaper of shame always comes to collect and if you do not know how to deal with that...you will wish you had dealt with your pride when it was just a wee little bad habit trying to form in you.

It is so ironic that that puffed-up pride leads to the demoralizing feeling of shame, but its true. It is like a balloon that rises up, up, up only to pop when it hits that sharp object. More than just humblind, shame is downright humiliating.. .it is hard for the person of pride to let go of shame, because unless GOD gets involved supernaturally, shame is not easily forgotten. It strikes at the deepest part of you, it goes after the core of your identity and tells you that you can not measure up, and it brings with it feelings of hopelessness. 

BUT! The good news is taht if you have R.S.V.P.'d of JESUS invitation of salvation HE took away your shame and gave you an unshakeable identity in HIM. So get to know HIM, spend time with HIM as often as you can...you can accomplish both of the aforementioned suggestions with one simple act daily: READ YOUR BIBLE (and meditate on what it says)...Then when your pride tries to rise up or get out of hand, GOD will convict you of it. (Giving you another opportunity to choose to love HIM and humble yourself to HIS will & not your own, silly!) But satan goes and takes humility too far and turns it into humiliation by having a heyday with your sin, then he tries to bury you under a load of shame.

Your talents and accomplishments are only possible because of GOD in you. Physical beauty is only temporary, but if you happen to be beautiful physically thank GOD for that gift...don't try to play it up too much by thinking that you had too much to do with it. Keep your pride in check by humbly focusing on all that GOD has done for you. You will please HIM and avoid the vicious fangs of shame and you will be so much prettier in the process.

My favorite verse from today's reading is Proverbs 12:4 "A good wife is like a crown for her husband, but a disgraceful wife is like a disease in his bones." My daily pride check prayer lately has been, "God, am I being a crown for Chris or what? Show me when I am being disgraceful and please give me the courage to admit my faults and the power to change them." I so want to be a good wife, you know....like a tiara! (Hahaha,...I just pictured my husband in a tiara!)

Anyhoo...The BIBLE says that "One day every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that JESUS CHRIST is Lord," so why not confess that now, today when it matters? Too late is too late. (Psst: if you are reading this right now you're still living...it's not too late, k? So do a pride check & go talk to GOD right now!)