Day 8

Matthew 22-24

“The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:11-12 ESV

The scribes and pharisees received a pretty harsh, yet a much deserved rebuke. The problem that Jesus had with the pharisees seemed to be an issue of pride. They wanted all the attention on themselves. They wanted all their good deeds to be seen by others. They wanted all the best seats and they even wanted their followers to call them “Rabbi.” 

While working at the Revival Center, Pastor Jason would teach us what he called the “three G’s” as a part of our spiritual formation. The three G’s could pretty much summarize any downfall of any minister. The three G’s are: “Gold, Girls/Guys, and Glory.” My pastor would always tell me, “You must continually guard yourself from these three things.” 

Gold - The love of money

Girls - Lust of adultery

Glory - Pride

While in the act of committing sin, usually you know that you’re committing sin. If you’re stealing money (gold), you are very aware of what you’re doing. If you are committing adultery (guys/girls), again the guilt eventually weighs in. With pride, however, the deception seems to go a little deeper. 

When we are “practicing righteousness,” a seemingly innocent sense of fulfillment can eventually become the very thing that we seek. Our “righteousness” is no longer about Christ. We begin to judge others because they are not where we are. We yearn for attention and we want our good deeds to be seen by others. This doesn’t happen overnight. It happens when we take our eyes off the cross of Christ and begin to focus inwardly. It’s humbling to remind ourselves that our righteousness is like filthy rags before God (Isaiah 64:6). 

Today remember the cross. Remember that it is only by the blood of Jesus that you are in right standing with God.