One key characteristic of God's grace is the fact that He gives when we do not deserve it. In my own walk with the Lord, I have noticed significantly that the Lord does far more in spite of me than he does because of me. This is a portrait of God's amazing grace. In the book of I. Peter chapter 5, verses 5 and 6 have some phrases for us to ponder. One such phrase is, "Be clothed with humility." Another is, "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble." A third is, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God." Truly humility is essential in anyone getting anywhere with God Almighty. The Lord will overlook a lot of shortcomings and help us anyway. Nonetheless, I am convinced that God will not overlook pride. The sinner MUST humble himself to be saved. The saint MUST humble himself for his prayer to be heard. Solomon stated, "These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A PROUD LOOK..." God hates arrogance. We must humble ourselves to get anywhere with God.
"I have no arrogance in me," you may boast. There are four ways in which arrogance shows its ugly head. First, if a person has heard the gospel and rejects it, he is very arrogant, and needs to come down a notch or two. When I tell you how to be saved, and you say, "I'm as good as anyone in that church," you are arrogant. When the gospel is presented to you and you reply to the knocking Saviour, "I do not need what you have to offer," you certainly are very proud.
Sinners are not the only arrogant ones; Christians, if we are not careful, may have arrogance in our hearts to some degree. A second way that arrogance shows its ugly head is by complaining. Yes, complaining is arrogance. The spirit behind one who complains says, "How dare something go wrong in my life today?!!!" If we understood how many blessings with which we are richly blessed, the only words that would proceed out of our mouth would be those of thanksgiving, and not words of complaint.
A third way in which arrogance reveals itself is by a person attempting to "make a deal with God." Christians go to the altar and say to the Lord, "If you'll...then I'll..." LIKE WE'VE REALLY GOT SOMETHING TO OFFER GOD! Like He'd better jump on it or He'll miss a deal! We need to understand that we do not need to make a deal with the Lord; we need to ask Him to give us what we need out of His grace. Then, we'll just live for Him because we love Him, and not because we're trying to pay off His blessings.
Fourthly, UNFORGIVENESS is arrogance. If, after you have been wronged, you refuse to forgive, you are arrogant. The spirit behind the unforgiving one says, "I can't forgive; they wronged me!" Well, with all due respect, who do you think you are? There is someone who is higher than you, and His name is Jesus. He was treated more wrongfully than either you or me. And, at the very hour of His crucifixion, He prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!" If, after Christ forgave you, you refuse to forgive others, you are very highminded! No wonder Ephesians 4:32 says, "Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
"I have no arrogance in me," you may boast. There are four ways in which arrogance shows its ugly head. First, if a person has heard the gospel and rejects it, he is very arrogant, and needs to come down a notch or two. When I tell you how to be saved, and you say, "I'm as good as anyone in that church," you are arrogant. When the gospel is presented to you and you reply to the knocking Saviour, "I do not need what you have to offer," you certainly are very proud.
Sinners are not the only arrogant ones; Christians, if we are not careful, may have arrogance in our hearts to some degree. A second way that arrogance shows its ugly head is by complaining. Yes, complaining is arrogance. The spirit behind one who complains says, "How dare something go wrong in my life today?!!!" If we understood how many blessings with which we are richly blessed, the only words that would proceed out of our mouth would be those of thanksgiving, and not words of complaint.
A third way in which arrogance reveals itself is by a person attempting to "make a deal with God." Christians go to the altar and say to the Lord, "If you'll...then I'll..." LIKE WE'VE REALLY GOT SOMETHING TO OFFER GOD! Like He'd better jump on it or He'll miss a deal! We need to understand that we do not need to make a deal with the Lord; we need to ask Him to give us what we need out of His grace. Then, we'll just live for Him because we love Him, and not because we're trying to pay off His blessings.
Fourthly, UNFORGIVENESS is arrogance. If, after you have been wronged, you refuse to forgive, you are arrogant. The spirit behind the unforgiving one says, "I can't forgive; they wronged me!" Well, with all due respect, who do you think you are? There is someone who is higher than you, and His name is Jesus. He was treated more wrongfully than either you or me. And, at the very hour of His crucifixion, He prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!" If, after Christ forgave you, you refuse to forgive others, you are very highminded! No wonder Ephesians 4:32 says, "Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
