TLIC FAMILY. PROVERBS. APRIL 9: ARROGANCE.

THINK TOGETHER.

What do you hate? 

READ TOGETHER

Proverbs 8:13. The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

Hate isn’t always a bad thing. We should hate evil. Especially pride and arrogance. Do you know what arrogance is? A person who is arrogant is someone who thinks that they are never wrong, or they think they are better than everyone else. When God gives us the ability to be really good at something or when he allows us to be smart and clever, quite often we are in danger of becoming arrogant.

This is exactly what happened to King Solomon himself. He prayed for wisdom and God gave it to him. But then, over time, he became more and more arrogant and prideful. He stopped fearing God. In fact, eventually he stopped worshiping God too like a fool. You see, if you are really smart, but don’t fear God (listening to him, obeying him, loving what he loves) you wind up being a really big fool.

That’s why we must keep hating evil, pride, and arrogance, especially in ourselves. When we catch ourselves being a know-it-all, or boasting, or taking credit without thanking God, or judging others as less than ourselves, we must stop and ask, “What does God want? What does God love?”

With Jesus we never need to be arrogant. First of all, with Jesus we know that everything good that we have comes from him as a gift. We therefore must be grateful not prideful. And second, with Jesus, we never have to make ourselves feel good, look good, or sound good. Jesus is our goodness, not ourselves. One day he will brag about you, so no need to do your own bragging today.

Because of Jesus we have no room for pride and arrogance in our hearts.

With Jesus we never have to brag about ourselves because he is bragging about us before God.

DO SOMETHING TOGETHER

Practice confession: Have everyone name something they are tempted to brag about or another way that they are arrogant. Pray for one another for humility and grace.

PRAY TOGETHER

Jesus, thank you for all the things I am good at, but help me to be grateful not arrogant. Amen.

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