“For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not recieved it?” 1 Cor. 4:7
Today’s Christian Daily Devotional
These verses address the issue of pride. We all have it. Think of the most prideful person in your life. (Nine times out of ten that should be you!) When focus on that individual, their strong special qualities and characteristics that have brought them success and blessing probably stand out in your mind. Most people who have pride (although not all!) usually have something to be proud of. These people may be physically beautiful, have a gift of public speaking, an ability to remember names and details to make others feel important, they may be gifted in math or science, or have a heart that is tender and always willing to help another. These qualities are good things. Everybody has special gifts and natural talents that are exclusive to them—because God also gifted us with unique personalities as well! The world would like us to conform to the belief that we are destined with the temperaments and strengths of our astrological sign or Chinese animal. To any thinking human being, this is an insult. We are individuals that are far too complex to be deduced to such a “dehumanizing” generality. We are more than our horoscope would like us to believe. But, in all that we are, (the good, the bad, and the ugly) every one of our blessings and talents come from God. It can all be taken away in the flash of a car accident or a careless slip of the knife in surgery. No one has anything that has not been given by God Almighty Himself. This verse is reminding us that, although we may have many gifts, talents and blessings to be prideful of, we shouldn’t. All those things came from God. We did not create ourselves!
“Dear Heavenly Father,
The wisdom of your word cuts like a knife. I repent of harboring the spirit of pride in my heart. As I discovered the talents you have placed within me, and nurtured them to increase with education and life experience, I had the audacity to take full credit for them. What a fool I am! You, Lord gave me the drive and the talent to begin with, you Lord, blessed me with the opportunity to grow in my talents. I am shameful that I thought of myself as the “big man”, creating my own success, as you have blessed my life with the opportunities, education, people and influences that got me every good thing that I have today. From this day forward, I ask that you change my heart. I will not take credit for the life and blessings you have gifted to me. If I do, please let me know when I am allowing a prideful spirit to leak into my heart. Help me to give it back to you, so I do not have to be publicly humbled as a reminder of who really is in control of it all. In Jesus’ precious name, I praise you for all that you have done for me and all that you will do for me in the future, Amen!”
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