Pride Elimination
1 Peter 1:14-15 says, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy””. Holiness means absolute purity of my walk before God. This included the words coming from my mouth and every thought in my mind. It is placing every detail in my life under the scrutiny of God Himself. I won’t achieve holiness on earth, but through the process of sanctification I can progress toward holiness. Sanctification is becoming increasingly separated from sin and separated unto Jesus Christ. This process begins at salvation and is not complete until we die and are glorified. It is realizing that I’m not where I need to be when it comes to holiness, but recognizing that I’m not where I used to be.
As part of this sanctification process the Holy Spirit has convicted me that pride was an issue in my life. I have been a very prideful person and portraying a good image was very important to me. It mattered to me what other people thought about me, so I wanted to make sure to have nice vehicles that I couldn’t afford and a big house that was out of my budget. I drove a really nice Toyota Tundra that I loved. I wanted people to think that I was successful because I drove a nice truck. Pride caused us to be in debt just for appearances sake.
I now drive a 1994 Toyota Tercel without tinted windows, power locks, power windows, heat or cruise control. This thing doesn’t even have a radio! I would have been mortified to be seen driving a car like this in the past, but now it seems like a perfect car for me. I don’t need a nice, expensive car just to get me back and forth to work until we make our move to Uganda. I no longer care if people think that I’m a loser because I drive a junker. I don’t have a car payment and am able to save up a bunch of money for our move instead of blowing it on truck payments.
Driving a Tercel doesn’t make me holy by any means, but steps toward eliminating pride are steps toward holiness and that is sanctification. Paul talks about this in Philippians 3:12-14, “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
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