10/28/09

The Counterfeit Helmet - PRIDE

This week we will look at the counterfeit helmet. In Ephesians 6 we are instructed to put on our head a helmet of salvation. Ephesians 2:9 reminds us that our salvation is not because of works lest any man should boast or be proud. Our salvation is a free gift because of God's grace. So, what does Satan want us to wear on our head? You guessed it, a helmet of pride. It just fits doesn't it? Unfortunately it does. I believe this piece of counterfeit armor is Satan's crowning glory and it is no accident that it is worn right on top of our head. Why is pride so dangerous? Because it is a heart condition that molds a mindset. Pride will affect the way you think, the way you make decisions, and the way you feel. Think about it. What gets the biggest emotional response from you? What makes you the angriest? the most annoyed? hot under the collar? What motivates you to gossip? What embarasses you? intimidates you? humiliates you? I believe if you will search your heart on these issues you will find some pride lurking. When someone speaks against your family how do you respond? When a juicy piece of gossip lands in your lap, what do you do with it? Anger, jealousy, gossip, bitterness, revenge, self-pity, conceit, vanity, slander, self-justification, defensiveness - all of these things grow on the tree of pride. The fruit of pride is poison - that's why Satan revels in it. Here is how C.S. Lewis put it, "The essential vice, the utmost evil is pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison. It was through pride that the devil became the devil. Pride leads to every other vice; it is the complete anti-God state of mind." That is why pride is such a huge issue with God. It goes completely against everything that He represents. Every sin can find its root in evil pride. Every sinner who refuses to confess and repent chooses to do so out of pride. Usually pride is hardest to see in ourselves - it is every person's blind spot. What we can see so easily in someone else, we are somehow blind to in our own life. It is time to do some serious soul searching for ourselves and stop trying to "fix" everyone else. I heard a TV preacher put it this way. "The problem is not out the window, it's in the mirror." Pride in our heart leads to pride in our mind, which leads to pride in the way we talk and walk this Christian life. Philippians 2 reminds us "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he HUMBLED Himself...." The cure for pride is humility, and humility is found on our knees. While pride stands tall, humility knows to fall. Proverbs 11:2 tells us, "When pride comes then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." If there was ever a time when God's people needed wisdom it is now, but Ezekiel 28 tells us that pride corrupts wisdom. Pride is that molded piece of fruit that sits in the fruit basket and slowly but surely contaminates and rots everything else. God's Word has so much to say on this issue, and I encourage you to do some searching and reading. Get God's perspective on selfish pride and let His word begin to renew your mind so that the proud mindset can be overcome by the mindset of Christ. I encourage you to read Philippians 2:1-15 everyday and then be a doer of the word not a hearer only. Then and only then will you be able to put off the helmet of pride and put on a helmet of salvation!

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