The Six Woes

  Prayer Practice

Breath Prayer – Take 2-3 minutes today to pray a simple breath prayer. Get somewhere quiet and relaxing. Breathe in deeply, and then breathe out fully. As you breathe in, ask God to fill you with His presence, grace, love, peace, etc. Consider using the list of spiritual fruit in Galatians 5:22-23. As you breathe out, offer to God the things you need Him to take from you – sin, doubt, shame, anxiety, fear, etc. Pray this way for just a few minutes, trusting God to work, and then begin reading today’s Scripture.

DAILY READING

Luke 11:37-53

REFLECTION

A Prideful Heart

 by Kelsey Bacon

As I read this passage, a lot of things come to mind, but one particular theme seems to surface throughout Jesus' warnings: pride. The pharisees and law experts to whom Jesus speaks live deep into the sin of pride, and Jesus wastes no time pointing it out to them.

To the pharisees, Jesus calls out their pride in their position, strutting through the streets and taking the best seats in the synagogue, wearing their own importance like crowns on their heads. He reminds them that God sees what's on the inside, and that they are not living into God's calling on their lives to love their neighbors.

To the experts in the law, Jesus calls out their pride in their knowledge. They see themselves as better than those around them because they have all this knowledge of the law, and like Jesus said, they lay it upon the shoulders of others so that the Word of God becomes a burden rather than a blessing. They see themselves as high and mighty, above reproach and lording over others.

We might not be pharisees or experts in the law, but we as Christians can sure struggle with the sin of pride. If we lived in Jesus' time, we would be the pharisees, the loyal synagogue-attenders, those studying God's law in order to become experts. And if a man came and told us that God saw pride in our hearts, when we thought we were following the law, how would we react?

Pride creeps into our hearts when we compare ourselves to others and see ourselves as better, or when we are in a situation that seems unfair and we think we deserve more because of what we've done or who we are. Pride can even come from our identity as a Christian, looking down on or even disassociating with others because they don't believe the same things as we do. But Jesus tells us to look into our own hearts before we look at others', to be generous, and to seek God above ourselves.

Reflect further: Pray and ask God to reveal in you where you might be struggling with pride. For some of you, it might come to your mind instantly, for others you might need to think deeply. Ask for God's forgiveness for your pride, and seek his Word as you move forward in your week.