A Gift For You.

My name is Pride. I am a cheater.

I cheat you of your God-given destiny…

because you demand your own way.

I cheat you of contentment…

because you “deserve better than this.”

I cheat you of knowledge…

because you already know it all.

I cheat you of healing…

because you are too full of you to forgive.

I cheat you of holiness…

because you refuse to admit when you are wrong.

I cheat you of vision…

because you’d rather look in the mirror than out a window.

I cheat you of genuine friendship…

because nobody’s going to know the real you.

I cheat you of love…

because real romance demands sacrifice.

I cheat you of greatness in heaven…

because you refuse to wash another’s feet on earth.

I cheat you of God’s glory…

because I convinced you to seek your own.

My name is Pride. I am a cheater.

You like me because you think I’m always looking out for you.

Untrue.

I’m looking to make a fool of you.

God has so much for you, I admit, but don’t worry…

If you stick with me you’ll never know.

- Beth Moore; Praying God's Word

Every once in awhile I pull this off my shelf. Usually around the time I want to point out "stuff" in other people that I find VERY frustrating and quite simply unbelievable. The opposite of pride? Humility. In order to be a good neighbor, we have to humbly enter into seasons of life where we "do" even in spite of the fact we get nothing in return. We do because we have this opportunity to change, to be more like Him.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to teach at Northbrook Church on "When Being a Neighbor Comes at a Cost" you can find the link here:

https://www.northbrookchurch.org/media/video-messages

My prayer for us all is that we would be a lot less directive, more curious, less "know it all" and more Grace and Truth.

Amen, Ash.