Pride was once seen as a fatal flaw. Today it's celebrated. Pastor Chris traces it back to the garden, names three forms it takes, and shows why it drains our spiritual life.
Pride was once seen as a fatal flaw. Today it's celebrated. Pastor Chris traces it back to the garden, names three forms it takes, and shows why it drains our spiritual life.
Pastor Chris opens the series on the seven deadly sins with pride. He defines it as the desire to be something you're not. He takes us back to Genesis 3:5, where the serpent told Adam and Eve they could be like God. They bit, sin entered the world, and they became self-conscious. Then they hid from each other and from God.
That hiding, he says, is why pride drains spiritual vitality. We spend our energy protecting an image instead of becoming who God calls us to be. He points to Proverbs 11:2 and Proverbs 16:18 on disgrace and destruction, then names three forms of pride: vanity, stubbornness, and exclusion. Stubbornness is being stiff-necked, and he reads Proverbs 29:1 about the consequences. Exclusion looks down on others and is the opposite of love.
All three put us at the center and push God aside. The answer is humility. Pastor Chris calls on Jesus' words that those who humble themselves will be exalted. He also cites Peter's call to humble ourselves under God's mighty hand. We can choose praise over vanity, service over stubbornness, and encouragement over exclusion.
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Series: 7 Deadly Sins
Speaker: Pastor Chris
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