Putting Pride to Death

Today, once again, I came up against a tough issue. My pride. Honestly, it is so hideously ugly, yet I rarely try to fight it! The question for me then becomes... How do I rid myself of it? I can't love me and serve me while claiming to love and serve Jesus. It just doesn't work!

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others." Philippians 2:3&4

Look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. So if I say no to pride and offer to load the dishwasher, I take a step. If I say no to pride and pick up a piece of trash on the sidewalk, I take another step. If I say no to pride and ask my mom how I can help her, I take a step. Eventually looking to other's interests becomes easier and even joyful! And in the process, I move farther toward my ultimate goal: becoming the image of Jesus Christ.

"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." Matthew 5:5

And, I'm proud to say, I am almost completely humble! Just kidding. I still have a long way to go, but I know that I don't have to do it on my own strength. How about you? Will you take steps today to say no to pride and become more like Christ?

Painful Prayers

As I was praying today, I prayed a painful and potentially dangerous prayer. "Lord, break my heart with the things that break your heart." I can't even begin to see or feel all of the things that break God's heart. But when He does give me just a slight glimpse of some of the things that break His heart, I find myself completely overwhelmed. Wanting to weep for the state of our society.

However, one of the many wonderful things that I have found out about God is that he gives us so many wonderful promised. In Matthew 5:4, Jesus says "Blessed are those who mourn, for THEY SHALL BE COMFORTED" (caps added, sorry, there were not italics). When we find ourselves mourning for the way things are, we can know that we will be comforted.

Random Rambling

Well, I must apologize for the lack of blogs recently. See, I have been mentaly bloging quite often. However, somehow my brain waves didn't make it all the way to the internet... Oh well. So, I decided to blog something that you can actually read for a change.

For those of you considering insanely long road trips, I suggest that you fly instead. I really don't mind driving most of the time, but this past Sunday my family spent 16.5 hours in the car (that time did include stops, but still...). Then on Monday we spent about 10.5 hours in the car. It was actually worse than the first day, because I was so sore. However, we did eventually make it to my grandparent's in Nebraska. But, enough about me.

As I was checking all of the wonderful blogs I read, I found this amazing post! This was written by one of the speakers at the camp that I go to every summer with my church. She is an amazing woman of God, and I recommend her entire blog. Rather than annoy you with more of my ramblings, I will give you the link. Learning to wait: http://bethbrawleytaylor.blogspot.com/2009/07/learning-to-wait.html. Enjoy!