The Seed Blog: The Good Seed

What comes to your mind when you hear the word, Abomination in Scriptures? There are a number of things which I hear Christians Scripturally quote that word as a description of today, and usually they are not wrong, but we have an eye-opening discovery, especially in today's average Christian. This incredibly powerful word that God uses to express His feelings about some of the worst and most unnatural sins mankind could commit.

This word, is also used to describe one of the biggest issues that almost everyone in this church entertains, yet we make so lightly of it in our lives: Proverbs 6:16-17; Proverbs 16:5: pride. God hates pride as much as all of these other things that we picture when we here this word. Did you ever picture yourself as literally looking completely disgusting to God? If you heard that a pastor was caught cheating on his wife, how would you feel? Heard he was caught in a child pornography ring? Heard he was involved in a homosexual affair? Heard he was secretly involved in a satanic cult? Yet, no one would flinch, if they heard a pastor was confronted because he was too proud and cocky. To God, in His wisdom (the key) it is that severe. Two questions came to mind when I began studying this before God: 1) Why is pride that bad to Him? It surely doesn't seem as bad as some of the other things He lists. 2) Could that really be me? Could I literally be doing things that He feels are literally sickening and repulsive, in my pride?
When Satan turned his back on God and decided to rebel, what was his heart's motivation? Isaiah 14:12-14. And what was the motivating factor that caused Adam and Eve to fall from grace after Satan tempted them to distrust God? Genesis 3:4-5. And now, let me ask you to ponder something deeply: Can you think of any other sin you can commit, that doesn't have its seed in the sin of pride? If you lust after something, you are saying you want it, whether it is yours or not. If you are angry and bitter to the point of sin, you are saying that you deserve better and you don't have to stand for this. If you are unforgiving, you are saying that they do not deserve your love, nor do they deserve the forgiveness you obviously deserved. Any sin against God's known Will is a major sin of pride because you are saying that you don't need God or His Laws—you are too special for them to apply to you. Every dark thought or wrong path you have ever chosen has sprouted from this one seed in your heart. "I deserve better. I deserve more. I'm not getting what I'm worth!"
The problem is that almost all of us would see this sin in others, and few admit to the problem themselves. So, it is hard to get anyone to apply this to themselves. For the sake of today's message, please, please just assume I am possibly talking to you for the next few minutes. This is by far, the worst problem in our Christian walks. We don't attend church, because we have better ways to spend our time. We don't want to help others, because our lives are more important than theirs. We use people in our humor at the expense of their pain. We refuse to be wrong, even at the cost of relationships. We worry more about expressing our great intellect than caring for the heart of person to whom we are speaking, or even supposedly witnessing to. We stay angry at God in every trial we go through, because we deserve better. We worry more about how we look and sound while ministering, than whether we are touching lives for Christ, and truly showing love. We live lives of constant criticism and judgment, because we know more, or can do a better job, or don't trust their morals and motives as much as our own. And some of the worst examples of pride, come from those who feel they are the most humble and broken, with the lowest self-esteem, and the toughest life of all. They are the one who is always upset because they know they will never be as good as everyone else. So in honesty, who is their constant worry and focus upon? They always have the most problems, that no one else can ever understand. They are always the one that no one cares about, no one helps, no one wants to be around, and of which no one could hurt as much. Do you not see that the underlying factor is a constant focus on them only? A constant dwelling on them having nothing they deserve? If your life is so constantly and completely enveloped in your own problems that you’ve reached the point you rarely, if ever, think about or help anyone else in theirs, you have a massive problem in pride. If you have to be constantly reaffirmed in how great you are above everyone else, and have your every achievement recognized, or you get depressed and angry, you have a massive problem in pride. And lastly, if you know that God's Word specifically says something that you have openly decided to ignore in your special life (adultery, living together, drugs, porn, offensive behavior or language, unforgiveness, etc.), in your pride, you have decided that you are above God's wisdom, love and laws, and you have decided that you are better than the people to whom these laws apply, and the people in which you are affecting by breaking them.
Listen closely to the most damaging part of pride: where the seed of pride grows, the complete opposite seed is, by necessity, always missing: humility. Now get this: just as surely as almost every sin sprouts from the seed of pride, it is an impossibility to ever love as God has called us to love—agape love—in sacrificial love, in love above self, without humility. It is the key: the seed to all Godly Love: Philippians 2:3-11: So the, “No greater love” that Christ showed to the world was expressed because He first, “humbled” Himself. Romans 12:3; Ephesians 4:1-2; 1 Peter 3:8; James 3:13-18; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. The seed of humility is what sprouts into the plants of obedience, selflessness, sacrifice, and servitude. It is what grows agape love. We hear these words and think: ‘how hard, bland, and boring.’ But just the opposite is so true. Obedience, selflessness, sacrifice, and servitude are the key to excitement and joy and passion in life. Living a life filled with these traits is what gives us incredible purpose, makes us live on the edge, makes us step out of our comfort zones, makes life have the zest of passion. It's what takes us out of our nest of pity and depression. It's what removes our dilemma of anxiety. It's what shows us a new depth of God's love and character. Living for others in humility is what sets us free. This is the key to fun, passion, purpose and self-satisfaction. Not flailing around in pity and despair, looking for attention and purpose in hollow things. Have you ever seen a kid, or raised a kid that was completely and totally cared for in every way? Their every want was of utmost concern, and they could do no wrong? They got everything they dreamed of, with nothing held back. They were taught that their well-being and their desires were more important than the rest of the world? Often, they end up spoiled, dissatisfied, useless, miserable and disliked. So many of the trials and troubles that we are so angry with God about occur to show us our own pride and self-focus, as we see life is bigger than our wants. To make us see our weakness, tp make us refocus on what is truly important in life, to make us rely on God, instead of self, to sometimes force us to relate to, and count on others we would not consider otherwise.
Pride or humility is the seed which is growing in every heart here today. According to your works, your fruits—which one has sprouted? Pride has destroyed more marriages, hurt more friendships, caused more stress and anxiety than any other sin in Christian lives. But far worse—pride is the one thing that will keep you from getting close to God. It is one of the only things that He will actually openly resist because you are purposefully choosing to place yourself above Him, and His love: Psalm 138:6; James 4:6: Resists. On the other hand: Grace. Grace means getting what you do not deserve. God is drawn in a special way to the humble. God literally elevates, favors, and honors the humble: 1 Peter 5:6.
God will only lead and teach by His Spirit, those who are humble in their lives: Psalm 25:9. God only dwells with, and has fellowship with, the humble: Isaiah 57:15. It was humbleness that led God Himself, to come to earth and become an uneducated, mocked, hated, Nobody for our sakes. And this humbleness was the key to His Agape love for us all. This humbleness is why God the Father exalted Him above all Creation. It is this same humility in our lives, that will be the key to letting the world see Christ in us. It is how we will be set apart. It is how we will show Agape love. It is our greatest protection from Satan's tactics. It is our seed to every other thing God wants to cultivate in our lives. It is rewarded with the greatest intimacy we can have with Christ. Is your pride important enough to lose all of this? Can you be humble enough to admit that you do have a problem with pride, and Satan has used it to keep you from all you can be for Christ?