Pride

I know a  few ladies who read this will know where this came from - this notion of pride.  In studying my Beth Moore Bible study this morning, I read of Uzziah, the King of Judah.  Uzziah's name means "The Lord Saves".  In the first 15 verses of 1 Chronicles 26 it shows how Uzziah served God and was brought to much wealth and power and then.......PRIDE came.  After pride comes what?  The Fall.  Uzziah was powerful and wealthy and smart and then he became prideful and approached the temple of the Lord - something that was set aside only for the high priests.  They warned him to leave, begged him...but it wasn't until God afflicted Him in that place with Leprosy that he realized he wasn't so powerful after all.

Uzziah lived the rest of his days with Leprosy.  His son ran the kingdom for him.  And when he was buried what was he known for?  He was known for having leprosy.  As I began studying this I thought "Where is this going? Why am I reading about this guy?"  But, it hit me full on in the face!!!

PRIDE!

We have all experienced it. We have all suffered from it.  There are times we are prideful and we don't' even realize we are being that way.  When we brag about things we have done, when we look at people less fortunate than us and make disparaging remarks about them instead of praying for them or lifting a hand to help them.  When we place ourselves above someone else we are being prideful.  Have you done it?  Does something specific come to mind?  Boy, lots of things come to mind for me and its humbling.  Something as simple as posting a status on Facebook and constantly checking to see how many "likes" you get is being prideful.  Telling people what YOU DID in order to obtain praise from them is being prideful.   Like the cartoon I posted, we all place ourselves on a throne in one area or another in our lives.  We think we are higher and better than we truly are.  

I challenge you today to find areas you are prideful in and look for a way to be more humble.  Help someone less fortunate but don't tell anyone about it.  Do the thing that makes you YOU but do it for the Lord not for the praise of others.  There are so many things that we are prideful about - I'm so guilty of it and until I read about Uzziah I didn't even realize it.  When our lives are over, will we be remembered for all of the things we did, or will we be remembered for who we were.  I want to be remembered for being loving, kind, compassionate, faithful, and humble.  What about you?