King of the Jungle?

The lion was proud of his mastery of the animal kingdom. One day he decided to make sure all the other animals knew he was the king of the jungle. He was so confident that he by-passed the smaller animals and went straight to the bear. "Who is the king of the jungle?" the lion asked. The bear replied, "Why you are, of course" The lion gave a mighty roar of approval. Next he asked the tiger, "Who is the king of the jungle?" The tiger quickly responded, "Everyone knows that you are, mighty lion " 

Sometimes (even though very few of us admit it),  we feel like that lion... puffed up, boastful, and sure of ourselves.  We move from scenario to situation with our heads held high, chest out, and our arms bent to facilitate patting ourselves on the back...

I did this.

I earned this.

Look at me.

You aren’t as good as I am.

Or maybe it’s more subtle...

Insisting that our name be listed first on a report.

Making sure we always have the last word.

Having to be right all the time.

Talking about ourselves during every conversation.

The Bible is very clear about pride... 

“And all of you, serve each other in humility, for ‘God opposes the proud but favors the humble.’" 1 Peter 5:5b

At first glance, it just looks like God doesn’t like pride.   That it just bothers Him.  Look again.  It says that God OPPOSES the proud.

He stands against them.  Not the pride in their hearts... it says that God opposes THEM. 

And until hearts change, the situation stays that way... and we don’t receive the blessings that He is able and willing to give.  

Our lion’s story continues:

Next on the list was the elephant. The lion faced the elephant and addressed his question, "Who is the king of the jungle?" The elephant immediately grabbed the lion with his trunk, whirled him around in the air five or six times and slammed him into a tree. Then he pounded him onto the ground several times, dunked him under water in a nearby lake, and finally dumped him out on the shore. The lion--beaten, bruised, and battered--struggled to his feet. He looked at the elephant through sad eyes and said, "Look, just because you don’t know the answer is no reason for to get mean about it!"

Pride can make us feel beaten up... but so many of us refuse to believe that a BIG ego has taken over our hearts.  We can only say it isn’t there for so long... and if this is something we struggle with...I pray that we place humility and love where selfishness and self-importance now live.   

How do we defeat pride?  By remembering.

Remembering that God made us... and that we aren’t perfect.

Remembering that we are called to be servants.

Remembering that our goal is to further God’s Kingdom rather than our own agenda.

Remembering that God’s grace for us is meant to be shared with others that hurt us.

Remembering that we aren’t supposed to be anybody’s Savior...Jesus has that covered.

We’re not the king of the jungle... let others boast about us if they choose... but let’s decide to be thankful for our abilities, genuinely humble, and give glory to God for what He has graciously given us the opportunity to have and accomplish.  

The blessings come when we figure out that we don’t have to live like the lion in our story today... is it any wonder why a group of them is called a pride?

Sneaky

I cheat you of your God-given destiny... because you demand your own way.  I cheat you of contentment... because you deserve better than this.  I cheat you of knowledge because you already know it all.  I cheat you of healing... because you are too full of you to forgive.  I cheat you of vision... because you’d rather look in the mirror than out a window.  I cheat you of genuine friendship... because nobody’s going to know the real you.  What am I?  I am pride... and I will cheat you every time.

These sentiments from a poem by Beth Moore paint a bleak but accurate picture of pride in our lives.  It’s a silent and sneaky poison... and many don’t realize that it has taken over their hearts.    In Proverbs 16:18, we read that it is pride that causes destruction and causes people to fall!  The antidote to this poison?   Selflessness.  Jesus modeled it... and wants us all to remember that we are here to serve, love, give to, and lift up those around us.  When we’re doing those things, pride loses it’s grip on our heart and we become a more Godly example to others.

How To Defeat Pride

The lion was proud of his mastery of the animal kingdom. One day he decided to make sure all the other animals knew he was the king of the jungle. He was so confident that he by-passed the smaller animals and went straight to the bear. "Who is the king of the jungle?" the lion asked. The bear replied, "Why you are, of course" The lion gave a mighty roar of approval. Next he asked the tiger, "Who is the king of the jungle?" The tiger quickly responded, "Everyone knows that you are, mighty lion " 

Sometimes (even though very few of us admit it),  we feel like that lion... puffed up, boastful, and sure of ourselves.  We move from scenario to situation with our heads held high, chest out, and our arms bent to facilitate patting ourselves on the back...

I did this.

I earned this.

Look at me.

You aren’t as good as I am.

Or maybe it’s more subtle...

Insisting that our name be listed first on a report.

Making sure we always have the last word.

Having to be right all the time.

Talking about ourselves during every conversation.

The Bible is very clear about pride... 

“And all of you, serve each other in humility, for ‘God opposes the proud but favors the humble.’" 1 Peter 5:5b

At first glance, it just looks like God doesn’t like pride.   That it just bothers Him.  Look again.  It says that God OPPOSES the proud.

He stands against them.  Not the pride in their hearts... it says that God opposes THEM. 

And until hearts change, the situation stays that way... and we don’t receive the blessings that He is able and willing to give.  

Our lion’s story continues:

Next on the list was the elephant. The lion faced the elephant and addressed his question, "Who is the king of the jungle?" The elephant immediately grabbed the lion with his trunk, whirled him around in the air five or six times and slammed him into a tree. Then he pounded him onto the ground several times, dunked him under water in a nearby lake, and finally dumped him out on the shore. The lion--beaten, bruised, and battered--struggled to his feet. He looked at the elephant through sad eyes and said, "Look, just because you don’t know the answer is no reason for to get mean about it!"

Pride can make us feel beaten up... but so many of us refuse to believe that a BIG ego has taken over our hearts.  We can only say it isn’t there for so long... and if this is something we struggle with...I pray that we place humility and love where selfishness and self-importance now live.   

How do we defeat pride?  By remembering.

Remembering that God made us... and that we aren’t perfect.

Remembering that we are called to be servants.

Remembering that our goal is to further God’s Kingdom rather than our own agenda.

Remembering that God’s grace for us is meant to be shared with others that hurt us.

Remembering that we aren’t supposed to be anybody’s Savior...Jesus has that covered.

We’re not the king of the jungle... let others boast about us if they choose... but let’s decide to be thankful for our abilities, genuinely humble, and give glory to God for what He has graciously given us the opportunity to have and accomplish.  

The blessings come when we figure out that we don’t have to live like the lion in our story today... is it any wonder why a group of them is called a pride?

Turbulence

Then heavyweight champion of the world Mohammed Ali was sitting on a plane getting ready to take off.  The flight attendant recognized him and gently walked over to ask him to put on his seat belt.  His response?  “Superman don’t need no seat belt.”   The attendant stopped a second looked the formidable man squarely in the face and replied, “Superman don’t need no airplane either!”

There are many who treat God the same way.  God asks something of them… and they tell Him they don’t need to do it.  He gives them instruction through His word… and they shrug it off.  Pride makes them believe that they are self-sufficient… that they are in complete control of their direction with little need for restraint.  Psalm 10:4 tells us “In his pride, the wicked man does not seek him;  in all his thoughts there is no room for God”

Ali couldn’t fly on his own… and neither can we.  God is in control.  He knows best.  And when He tells us that it’s going to get a little bumpy…we need to put on that seatbelt… sit back… and thank Him for guiding us through the turbulence. 

Silent and Sneaky

I cheat you of your God-given destiny... because you demand your own way.  I cheat you of contentment... because you deserve better than this.  I cheat you of knowledge because you already know it all.  I cheat you of healing... because you are too full of you to forgive.  I cheat you of vision... because you’d rather look in the mirror than out a window.  I cheat you of genuine friendship... because nobody’s going to know the real you.  What am I?  I am pride... and I will cheat you every time.

These sentiments from a poem by Beth Moore paint a bleak but accurate picture of pride in our lives.  It’s a silent and sneaky poison... and many don’t realize that it has taken over their hearts.    In Proverbs 16:18, we read that it is pride that causes destruction and causes people to fall!  The antidote to this poison?   Selflessness.  Jesus modeled it... and wants us all to remember that we are here to serve, love, give to, and lift up those around us.  When we’re doing those things, pride loses it’s grip on our heart and we become a more Godly example to others.

Seatbelt

Then heavyweight champion of the world Mohammed Ali was sitting on a plane getting ready to take off.  The flight attendant recognized him and gently walked over to ask him to put on his seat belt.  His response?  “Superman don’t need no seat belt.”   The attendant stopped a second looked the formidable man squarely in the face and replied, “Superman don’t need no airplane either!”

There are many who treat God the same way.  God asks something of them… and they tell Him they don’t need to do it.  He gives them instruction through His word… and they shrug it off.  Pride makes them believe that they are self-sufficient… that they are in complete control of their direction with little need for restraint.  Psalm 10:4 tells us “In his pride, the wicked man does not seek him;  in all his thoughts there is no room for God”

Ali couldn’t fly on his own… and neither can we.  God is in control.  He knows best.  And when He tells us that it’s going to get a little bumpy…we need to put on that seatbelt… sit back… and thank Him for the ability to fly.