In humility value others above yourselves. Philippians 2:3

Most Christians are aware that the law and God’s grace are at odds with each other. The best thing that often comes from attempting to follow the biblical law is that we learn that we can’t do it…leading us to surrender to the grace of God and find His yoke is easy and His burden light.

Entitlement worse in so many ways. It is more at odds with God’s grace than the law, and it doesn’t easily lead us to surrender to God’s grace, either. At its core, the Gospel is that we are not entitled to anything, except just punishment for our sins (Rom 3:23; 6:23). Entitlement rejects that truth.

As today’s verse shows, self-sacrifice stems from a humble heart. Entitlement is rooted in a prideful heart. We deceive ourselves into thinking we deserve better than we have: More love, success, comfort, accolades, more attention from people, and ultimately, we think we deserve God’s grace (which is an oxymoron).

Oh, yes… And we think we don’t deserve suffering, heartbreak, or correction. So when we do experience these things, we grow bitter, frustrated, and disturbed because we believe we’re entitled to a life that is more focused on ourselves and the people we love, and less focused on people we disagree with. We tacitly ignore that we deserve nothing. Apart from Jesus’ grace, we deserve condemnation.

Note: we are often better at covering up our spirit of entitlement in areas of what we deserve better than covering up our spirit of entitlement in areas of what we don’t deserve. Yet the presence of the latter always points to the former. (more…)

Be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:5-7

For the most part, pride is the opposite of wisdom. Wisdom and humility are often connected in the Bible and this is no coincidence. The reason: Pride leaves us vulnerable to just about every other root sin. Pride both drives us to sin and leaves us addicted. Pride destroys us. Here’s why:

Pride produces a self-righteousness, hypocritical spirit:
When we’re proud, we elevate our status in our own eyes. This makes us repugnant to the people around us (unless they’re playing along for what they can get out of it). Worse yet, pride has no room for the mercy of God. When we think we’re better (holier, closer to God) than everyone else, we’re incapable of not finding fault with others—while being blind to our own faults and weaknesses. We become slaves to our own pride. It’s a compulsion.

The Pharisees’ pride blinded them to their own sin and far worse, it blinded them to God’s mercy. It drove them to be callous and brutal toward others when they knew that loving their neighbor as themselves was God’s requirement. Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness” (Mat 23:27). The vicious cycle here was that pride left them defenseless to sinful temptations like hate, and then they had to cover their sin to protect their pride. They were trapped—prisoners of their own egos.

Pride naturally leads to rebellion:
Rebellion is the reflex response of pride in our hearts. Rebellion says, “I know better than God,” when we don’t. Often prideful rebellion blinds us to what is in our own self-interest. But even when we can see what would be best for us, a rebellious heart prevents us from doing it. (more…)