“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” – Galatians
6:14
The scripture tells us that all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes,
and the pride of life; and these are not of the Father but of the world. Pride is as damning to man’s soul as much as alcohol
or fornication ever was; perhaps more so.
The propensity within us is to glory in ourselves, with or without merit. This directly conflicts with the desire of
God to get glory out of us. Therefore,
God forbid that I should glory.
It is no surprise that God’s Word has a lot to say about
pride. Pride cometh before destruction, God resisteth the proud but giveth grace toward the humble. Pride ripped the kingdom away from Saul. Pride killed Samson. Pride caused David to sin. It didn’t do much for Solomon, or king Nebuchadnezzar. If you want to stall the work of the Lord,
get a big dose of pride in your system. The
carnal nature is enmity against God because it wants to be God; or at least in
the place of God. The desire to hear our
own name, advance our reputation, and create our own legacy; this can drive us
to build, work, and create. While it is
a fine thing to do a good job, have some in store, and be good stewards of what
we have; there is danger in being a “glory hog.” Danger in failing to recognize that God gets
all the glory, all the time. God forbid
I should glory in my occupation. God
forbid I should glory in myself. God
forbid I should glory in my stuff. The
devil is so crafty when it comes to pride and glorying. It is a temptation that anyone, anywhere, can
fall into. So subtle is the change in allegiance
in the human heart, from loving God to loving the world that sometimes you don’t
even notice it at first; until years later you wake up and realize just how
lost you really are. Realize that you have
spent your life adding to yourself wealth and riches, whilst claiming to seek
God and justifying your actions by saying I am working to gain so that I may
give to his kingdom and his Son. Spent
your life building business, charities, churches, all for the glory of man and
not the glory of God. The devil can take
the grandest of ideals that you have, the noblest of causes; and turn them on you. Tempt you to glory in them, trap you by enticing
you to glorying in yourself. When, what
are we really but stewards of that which the Lord gives? The fact is, to the Christian, this body and
the things of this life are “borrowed for a while.” If you truly have this outlook the temptation
to idolize your things and covet the things of others is far less potent. Furthermore, it is hard to glory in yourself
and your things if you truly believe that they are God’s, so you do not glory
in them you glory in God because he allows them to be yours. In this sieve of stewardship and borrowed
time you sift all things while “Seeking first the Kingdom of God.” In the honor of stewardship and the desire to
glorify God you find the drive to build, work, and create. The only route to take in this life that
leads away from pride and glorying in yourself is the death route. Death to self, and death to sin.
Paul leaves with us the silver bullet. Profound exhortation. That we should not glory, save only in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The
cross of Christ paid the debt, and the resurrection of Christ brought the
victory. When you have crucified sin and
self and been raised to righteousness by the same power that raised Jesus; this
is separates you from the world. The separation
births the resurrection bring the power.
Power to live every day, dead to
sins and alive to God. Power to stay
dead to yourself and keep your life hid with
Christ in God. God will get the
glory, leaving yourself and the world out of it.
