As I was reading through Matthew 12 this morning I began to notice the Pharisees and their actions a little more. How they constantly were on Jesus, trying to catch him the wrong, go “one up” on the Son of man!
Of course they never did, but they persisted. As they began to realize this more and more, they began to plot other things…go further the wrong way. THESE WERE THE “RELIGIOUS LEADERS” of that day!
So, I began to think…WHAT was the root of their issue? I came to these thoughts…
- In the gospels, we constantly see Jesus expose the root of the Pharisees’ sinful disease as PRIDE.
- Their PRIDE in their religion, rituals & knowledge of the law.
- These actions provided them with status, being needed & even popularity…thus leading to their PRIDE in them.
- SO…what is PRIDE?
- PRIDE – “a high or inordinate opinion of one\’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority” dictionary.com)
- As Jesus continuously exposes the Pharisees’ PRIDE it draws bitterness & causes them to react instead of repent.
- Their reactions begin to bring out other sins in them…jealously, covet, murder.
- Conclusion…the ROOT of our SIN BEGINS IN our PRIDE.
- It begins when we put our value in our own self, dignity & desires more than we place our value in God’s presence,holiness & will.
- Luke 18:14
I’m simply sharing what I learned this morning and taking note that these religious leaders downfall…spiritually and in their spiritual leadership began in their PRIDE.
Another side note…
- Everyone of us has PRIDE that we struggle with!
- PRIDE is ROOTED in our FLESH!! ROOTED!
- We must constantly and prayerfully battle it daily with HUMILITY from the SPIRIT of GOD living IN us!
- PRIDE will always lead us AWAY from HUMILITY and God.
So, in a word, our goal should be to HUMBLE ourselves before the Lord… James 4:5-10
October 21st, 2009 at 4:53 pm
excellent post, believe that will preach