Defeating Pride, One Comment at a Time

You may have heard the story about the ancient king of
Greece who had a servant follow him around and whisper to
him several times each day, "You are only a man, and
mortal."

If you are teaching using the principles and practices
that I've given you in Teach the Bible to Change Lives and
all the additional writing, then you will be
successful enough that people are going to say positive
things to you, and about you.

This is dangerous territory, friend.

You're vulnerable to pride.

The word "pride" occurs 46 times in the Bible. The word
"proud" occurs 47 times. In *every* case it's negative.
(Also, it's telling that the Father says of His Son, "This
is my son, in whom I am well pleased." He does not say,
"I'm proud of you, Son!")

That should tell us something about how our heavenly
Father views pride, and how deadly it is to our teaching
ministries.

So how can you respond when people say nice things to you
about your classes or lessons? How do you reply when
people commend and praise you?

It's important to learn how to handle this. In fact, I
recommend you *practice* saying these things aloud, so it
comes easier when the moment comes.

Try saying these things as replies:

"I'm glad that God used me to refresh you and build you up."
"Praise the Lord for His work!"
"I'm sure God is pleased to see that you are growing in
______."
"God is good."

Let's keep a sober view of ourselves. Check off your sins
against the 10 Commandments. How are you doing loving God
with your whole life? Your neighbor as yourself? How are
you doing controlling your tongue?

Part of keeping a sober view of ourselves is to find great
joy that our passionate, loving Lord is choosing to use us -
- terribly weak things -- for His glory.