Latest / Bible Chat Devotional / May 24 - Freedom Without Pride

Transcript

May 24 - Freedom Without Pride · Bible Chat Devotional

• 0:02
  Welcome to Bible Chat, where we have devotional conversations
• 0:06
  rooted in Scripture and relevant for today.
• 0:10
  May 24th Pride, Power and purpose Let's be honest, pride
• 0:14
  is sneaky. It doesn't always show up as
• 0:17
  loud arrogance or showing off. Sometimes it looks like needing
• 0:20
  to be right in an argument. Sometimes it looks like
• 0:24
  dismissing someone else's idea before you've really heard it.
• 0:28
  Sometimes it looks like that quiet resentment when someone
• 0:31
  else gets the recognition you wanted.
• 0:34
  Pride has a way of disguising itself, and that makes it one of
• 0:37
  the most dangerous things to let take root in your heart.
• 0:41
  Proverbs chapter 16, verse 18 doesn't leave any room for
• 0:45
  ambiguity. Pride goes before destruction
• 0:49
  and a haughty spirit before a fall.
• 0:52
  That's not a threat. It's a warning rooted in the
• 0:54
  reality of how life actually works.
• 0:57
  When pride is driving your decisions, you stop listening
• 1:00
  well, you stop seeing your own blind spots.
• 1:04
  You start making choices based on ego rather than wisdom, and
• 1:07
  eventually that catches up with you.
• 1:10
  The higher the pride, the harder the fall.
• 1:13
  We've all seen it in others. And if we're honest in
• 1:15
  ourselves, Psalm 58 verse 6 is a raw, unfiltered prayer.
• 1:21
  The kind where someone is genuinely disturbed by injustice
• 1:24
  and brings that anger straight to God.
• 1:28
  And there's something important in that.
• 1:29
  When you're provoked, when someone wrongs you, when anger
• 1:32
  flares up, what do you do with it?
• 1:34
  The psalmist takes it to God. He doesn't bottle it up and let
• 1:39
  it curdle into bitterness. He doesn't explode outward and
• 1:42
  damage relationships. He pours it out to God, who is
• 1:46
  the only one truly capable of handling justice rightly.
• 1:50
  That's a model worth following. You can be honest with God about
• 1:54
  your anger. You don't have to pretend it
• 1:56
  isn't there, but give it to him before it gives you over to
• 1:59
  something destructive. And then Galatians chapter 5
• 2:03
  verse 13 reframes what freedom actually looks like.
• 2:07
  For you were called to freedom, brothers only Do not use your
• 2:10
  freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love
• 2:13
  serve one another. Here's the thing about freedom.
• 2:17
  It can be used two ways. You can use it to do whatever
• 2:21
  you want whenever you want for yourself, or you can use it to
• 2:24
  lift other people. And the counterintuitive truth
• 2:28
  of the gospel is that the second option is actually the more
• 2:31
  powerful and fulfilling. 1 Using your freedom to serve doesn't
• 2:35
  diminish you, it enlarges you. It builds something in your
• 2:39
  character that no amount of self gratification ever could.
• 2:43
  Think about what this looks like in your daily life.
• 2:47
  Pride says I need to win this. Humility says I need to
• 2:50
  understand this. Pride says my comfort first.
• 2:53
  Love says, what does this person need right now?
• 2:57
  It's not weakness to choose the second option.
• 3:00
  In fact, Proverbs chapter 16 verse 32, which you'll encounter
• 3:05
  more this week, says that the person who rules their own
• 3:08
  spirit is mightier than someone who conquers a city.
• 3:12
  Self mastery, choosing humility over ego is one of the most
• 3:16
  powerful things a person can do. You have something to offer the
• 3:20
  people around you, your words, your attention, your
• 3:24
  encouragement, your willingness to show up.
• 3:27
  But pride shrinks all of that. It turns your energy inward and
• 3:30
  leaves others without what they need from you.
• 3:33
  Humility, on the other hand, frees you to be genuinely
• 3:36
  useful, to make a real difference, to reflect the
• 3:39
  character of Jesus, who, with all power and authority, chose
• 3:43
  to serve. That's the kind of power worth
• 3:46
  having. Let's pray.
• 3:48
  Heavenly Father, thank you for the freedom I have in Christ and
• 3:51
  for the reminder that true freedom is lived outward, not
• 3:54
  inward. Help me to recognize pride when
• 3:58
  it shows up in my heart, even in its subtle forms.
• 4:01
  Teach me to handle anger by bringing it to You, not letting
• 4:05
  it drive me into something I'll regret.
• 4:07
  And help me to use the freedom you've given me to serve the
• 4:10
  people around me with kindness, patience, and genuine love.
• 4:14
  Make me humble. God in Jesus name, Amen.
• 4:20
  What if the battles hitting your family are not random and your
• 4:23
  home can become a place where darkness loses every right to
• 4:26
  stay? The Secured Home is a powerful
• 4:29
  six book prayer series for believers who want to guard
• 4:31
  their households with biblical authority, peace, and confidence
• 4:35
  in Jesus Christ. Book 1, Guarded Thresholds,
• 4:39
  fortifies every doorway, room, and entry point with prayerful
• 4:43
  protection. Book 2, Cleansed Rooms, helps
• 4:46
  reclaim spaces marked by fear, unrest, and spiritual
• 4:50
  defilement. Book 3, Closed Breaches, exposes
• 4:54
  hidden access points and severs every agreement with darkness.
• 4:58
  Book 4, Broken Assignments, confronts oppression, torment,
• 5:03
  and attacks against your family. Book 5, Consecrated Walls,
• 5:08
  dedicates every space and rhythm of the home to God.
• 5:11
  Book 6, Abiding Peace, shows how to maintain spiritual order,
• 5:16
  rest, and holy presence every day.
• 5:18
  Order now on Amazon or visit prayerscripts.org.
• 5:23
  Now I invite you to spend time with God in today's three-year
• 5:26
  Bible reading plan. Proverbs chapter 16 Verse 18
• 5:32
  World English Bible Pride goes before destruction and an
• 5:35
  arrogant spirit before a fall. Psalm Chapter 58 World English
• 5:40
  Bible Do you indeed speak righteousness?
• 5:43
  Silent ones, do you judge blamelessly, you sons of men?
• 5:47
  No. In your heart you plot
• 5:48
  injustice. You measure out the violence of
• 5:51
  your hands in the earth. The wicked go astray from the
• 5:54
  womb. They are wayward as soon as they
• 5:56
  are born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison
• 6:00
  of a snake, like a deaf cobra that stops its ear, which
• 6:04
  doesn't listen to the voice of charmers, no matter how skillful
• 6:07
  the charmer may be. Break their teeth, God in their
• 6:11
  mouth, Break out the great teeth of the Young Lions, Yahweh.
• 6:15
  Let them vanish like water that flows away when they draw the
• 6:19
  bow. Let their arrows be made blunt.
• 6:22
  Let them be like a snail which melts and passes away.
• 6:25
  Like the stillborn child who has not seen the sun before.
• 6:29
  Your pots can feel the heat of the thorns.
• 6:31
  He will sweep away the green and the burning alike.
• 6:34
  The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance.
• 6:38
  He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked, so that men
• 6:41
  shall say, Most certainly there is a reward for the righteous.
• 6:45
  Most certainly there is a God who judges the earth.
• 6:48
  Galatians, chapter 5. World English Bible Stand firm,
• 6:53
  therefore, in the liberty by which Christ has made us free,
• 6:56
  and don't be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
• 7:00
  Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision,
• 7:04
  Christ will profit you nothing. Yes, I testify again to every
• 7:08
  man who receives circumcision that he is a debtor to do the
• 7:11
  whole law. You are alienated from Christ,
• 7:15
  you who desire to be justified by the law, you have fallen away
• 7:19
  from grace. For we through the Spirit, by
• 7:21
  faith, wait for the hope of righteousness.
• 7:24
  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision amounts to anything
• 7:28
  nor uncircumcision, but faith working through love.
• 7:32
  You are running well. Who interfered with you that you
• 7:35
  should not obey the truth? This persuasion is not from him
• 7:38
  who calls you. A little yeast grows through the
• 7:41
  whole lump. I have confidence toward you in
• 7:44
  the Lord, that you will think no other way, but he who troubles
• 7:48
  you will bear his judgment, whoever he is.
• 7:51
  But I, brothers, if I still preach circumcision, why am I
• 7:54
  still persecuted? Then the stumbling block of the
• 7:57
  cross has been removed. I wish that those who disturb
• 8:01
  you would cut themselves off for you Brothers were called for
• 8:05
  freedom. Only don't use your freedom for
• 8:07
  gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another,
• 8:11
  for the whole law is fulfilled in one word.
• 8:13
  In this you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
• 8:17
  But if you bite and devour one another, be careful that you
• 8:20
  don't consume one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit,
• 8:24
  and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh, for the flesh
• 8:28
  lusts against the Spirit and the spirit against the flesh.
• 8:32
  And these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the
• 8:35
  things that you desire, but if you are led by the Spirit, you
• 8:39
  are not under the law. Now the deeds of the flesh are
• 8:42
  obvious, which are adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness,
• 8:47
  lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies,
• 8:51
  outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envy,
• 8:56
  murders, drunkenness, orgies and things like these of which I
• 9:00
  forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who
• 9:03
  practice such things will not inherit God's Kingdom.
• 9:07
  But the fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy, peace, patience,
• 9:11
  kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control.
• 9:15
  Against such things there is no law.
• 9:17
  Those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its
• 9:20
  passions and lusts. If we live by the Spirit, let's
• 9:24
  also walk by the Spirit. Let's not become conceited,
• 9:28
  provoking one another and envying one another.
• 9:33
  Thanks for joining us on Bible Chat, where Scripture meets
• 9:36
  everyday life. If today's devotional encouraged
• 9:39
  you, share it with a friend and be sure to follow the podcast so
• 9:43
  you won't miss the next conversation.
• 9:45
  Until next time, stay rooted in truth, anchored in hope and
• 9:49
  walking. Daily with Jesus.