Pride
“Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 9:23-24
In the Bible, to be proud means to be “puffed-up”. I hate to say it but I’m as proud as a Pufferfish! Pufferfish? Have you ever seen a Pufferfish?
I caught one in a net last summer while I was crabbing with my Dad and my children. When I pulled it out of the water it was small, but it didn’t take long for it to puff itself up while I was trying to let it back into the water. Because it was puffed up – it was trapped in the net and would not budge. I placed the entire net back into the water and hoped that the water would humble it so that it could swim free from the net.
The Bible says that we all struggle with pride like a Pufferfish. We all want to impress other people so that they will like us and so that we can feel good (or better) about ourselves.
If you are a Christian, then you probably spend a great deal of time trying to impress God. That’s silly though. There’s nothing we could do to impress God. His love for us is not based upon our performance.
The Bible says something altogether different. In Matthew 5 Jesus says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This means that God’s blessing is not based upon our performance but upon His amazing grace.
Jesus is saying that it’s ok that you are not ok. Jesus is better than being better. Boast in Him!