"These [in Berea] were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so." - Acts 17:11
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(15) Do not love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you do not love the Father. (16) Everything that belongs to the world---what the sinful self desires, what people see and want, and everything in this world that people are so proud of---none of this comes from the Father; it all comes from the world.

Good News Bible copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society.

I John 2:15-16 warns us not to love the world of Satan's creation because it is a huge reservoir of influences to the budding kernel of pride in each of us. It can lead us from that sin to others in order to accomplish our ambitions.

What other kinds of sin? The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector provides an example, showing how destructive it can be to relationships: "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess'" (Luke 18:11-12). Pride can make a person become condescending and self-righteous, so that he sees himself as greater than others, which can lead to misusing them.

At the same time, it blinded the Pharisee to his spiritual condition. Jeremiah 49:16 is spoken against Edom. "'Your fierceness has deceived you, the pride of your heart, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill! Though you make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there,' says the LORD." One of pride's most destructive fruits is self-deception, blindness to one's own spiritual condition. It strongly tends to produce a sense of infallibility.

— John W. Ritenbaugh

To learn more, see:
Living By Faith and Human Pride



 

Topics:

Loving the World

Parable of Pharisee and Tax Collector

Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican

Pride

Pride and Condescending Attitude

Pride and Self-Righteousness




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