Arrogant

I’m confident that Arrogance and Pride are close relatives. They are both destructive to human beings, because we were wired to serve others rather than ourselves. Arrogant is feeling superior, self-importance and entitlement. Arrogance and pride make everything all about me. I am the center of my own universe. I am “all that and a bag of chips”.  A person who is arrogant and full of pride is hard to love and hard to even be around.

I believe that God is disgusted with arrogant and pride-filled people. He knows us all better than anyone. He knows my flaws, my sinful thoughts, and my deepest secrets. Prideful and arrogant people don’t realize their need for the Lord. They seem to think that they are the reason they are successful. They take all the credit for their blessings.

Jeremiah call this out big time as the Lord has just given them an object lesson about how things rot if buried in the ground. He was warning them of their relationship with Him and how detestable arrogance and pride are to Him. Check this out….

¹⁵ Listen and pay attention!
    Do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken.
¹⁶ Give glory to the Lord your God
    before it is too late.
Acknowledge him before he brings darkness upon you,
    causing you to stumble and fall on the darkening mountains.
For then, when you look for light,
    you will find only terrible darkness and gloom. (Jeremiah 13:15-16 NLT)

I learned several years ago that if I am anything, it’s because of The Lord living in me and working through me. He is where my worth comes from. He is where my work ethic comes from. He is the reason I can be kind. He is the reason I can love. He is the reason that I’m a good friend. He is my all in all. I am nothing without Him. He built me. He wired me. He lives in me. He lives through me.

The enemy tries to remind me how “good” I am. I push back by reminding Him that God is good and the only way I’m good is because of God dwelling in my heart.  I choose humility over arrogance and pride because with humility, I’m teachable and my heart is shapeable.

I remember what it’s like to be full of myself – arrogance and pride. It tastes good for a bit, but the aftertaste is quite bitter and unfulfilling. I will put my trust in God alone. His Presence in me is way more powerful and perspective changing. Arrogance and pride are self-destructive traits. Humility is allowing God to continue to build me and my influence upon others.

Pressing On!

Dwayne