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Beware the Yeast of the Pharisees
By Rick Warren

“Then Jesus left the Pharisees and went in the boat to the other side of the lake. His followers had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat; they had forgotten to bring more. Jesus warned them, ‘Be careful! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.’ His followers discussed the meaning of this, saying, ‘He said this because we have no bread.’” (Mark 8:13-16 NCV)

In the Bible, yeast is often a metaphor for pride and arrogance. Why? When you put yeast in dough, what does it do? It puffs it up, and if you put in too much, it blows it up.

When you’re cooking, you don’t need a lot of yeast. If you’re making bread, you don’t pour a cup of yeast in. You just need a little pinch. Just like yeast, you don’t have to have a lot of pride for it to take over quickly and get you in all kinds of problems.

Recently my wife, Kay, and I had what you might call an argument. We call it a “love match.” After that argument, I wrote down in my journal, “When I’m filled with pride, I blow things out of proportion.”

We all do this. When you’re filled with pride, you blow things out of proportion. All of a sudden, little things get you really upset. Whenever that happens, you know you’re dealing with pride. Wherever you find conflict anywhere in the world, pride is always involved.

When you’re filled with pride, when you have the yeast of the Pharisees, guess what? You can’t see life clearly. When you are prideful, you can’t see what God is doing in your life.

God wants you to beware the “yeast of the Pharisees” so that you can more closely follow him and understand how he is working a miracle in your life.

Talk It Over

Is it possible pride has affected your relationships with other people? How so?

Is it possible pride has kept you from developing spiritually? How so?

What does pride look like in your life?

In what ways has it kept you from seeing God’s plan for you?