fighting pride when you are praised

How To Fight The Sin Of Pride Especially When You Are Praised

Ten Things I Do
by John Piper


I call to mind that I am not self-existent; only the triune God is. Only God is absolute, but I am contingent. I remind myself that I am utterly dependent on God for my origin and for my present and future existence. I call this to mind and ponder its truth.


I remember that I am by nature a depraved sinner and that, in all my sinning, I have treated God with contempt, preferring other things to his glory. I take stock that I have never done a good deed for which I don’t need to repent. Each one is flawed because perfection is commanded. Therefore I realize that God owes me nothing but pain in this life and the next.


I ponder that this condition of mine is so desperate that it could only be remedied at the cost of the horrid death of the Son of God, to bear my punishment and provide my righteousness. And I revel in the forgiveness and righteousness that is mine in Christ.


I meditate on those Scriptures that say, “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,” (1 Peter 5:5-6; see James 4:6-10). And, “He who is least among you all is the one who is great” (Luke 9:48; Mark 9:35; Matthew 20:26).


I pray that the eyes of my heart would see these biblical truths for what they really are.


I ask God to make me not just see them but also feel them with a sense of the meekness and lowliness and brokenness that corresponds to their true weight.


I renounce desires for praise and notoriety and esteem when I see them rising. I say, “No! In the name of Jesus get out of my head!” And I turn my mind afresh with prayer toward the beauty and truth and worth of Christ.


I try to receive all criticism—from friend or foe—with the assumption that there is almost certainly some truth in it that I can benefit from. “Be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19).


I strive to cultivate a joy in Christ and his wisdom and power and justice and love that is more satisfying than the pleasures of human praise, with the goal that, by the Spirit, I would be granted the miracle of self-forgetfulness in the admiration of Christ, and in love toward people.


Finally, I turn often to older writers who knew God at depths which most of us modern people seem incapable of. I turn, for example, to Jonathan Edwards whose descriptions of humility awaken the deepest longings in me, as, for example, when he wrote to Mrs. Peperell on November 28, 1751, concerning Christ:


He is indeed possessed of infinite majesty, to inspire us with reverence an adoration; yet that majesty need not terrify us, for we behold it blended with humility, meekness, and sweet condescension. We may feel the most profound reverence and self-abasement, and yet our hearts be drawn forth sweetly and powerfully into an intimacy the most free, confidential, and delightful. The dread, so naturally inspired by his greatness, is dispelled by the contemplation of his gentleness and humility; while the familiarity, which might otherwise arise from this view of the loveliness of his character merely, is ever prevented by the consciousness of his infinite majesty and glory; and the sight of all his perfections united fills us with sweet surprise and humble confidence, with reverential love and delightful adoration. (Works, Vol. 1 (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth), p. cxxxix)


Longing to forget me, and treasure Christ, and love you,

Pastor John Piper

thoughts on sunday

reflecting on this past sunday:

i love seeing others lift the Name above all names, above all names.

i love seeing students put their abilities to work for the edification of JESUS' church, but mostly for the glory of HIS name.

i love seeing students graduate from high school without graduating from their faith in CHRIST.

i love seeing students more interested in serving their church, for the glory of CHRIST, than making a name for themselves with a band.

i love the hearts behind the music.

i love the SAVIOR behind the hearts.

i love working with those three men to teach and proclaim GOD's Word.

i love that students don't care about limo rides or fancy dinners anymore.

i love my SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.

may HE be forever praised.

Thabiti Anybwile

Thabiti Anyabwile asks, "How zealous are we for the LORD's honor?"

babies with no fathers

Al Mohler has a great article on The Disappearing Father.

artsy

Justin Taylor asks a great question about some art.

the LORD alone is good

i'm not sure where this blog is going, only that i want to boast a little bit in the LORD:

and to clarify, when i say, the LORD, i mean JESUS CHRIST.

the LORD is supreme in all things.

the LORD bows before no one.

the LORD reaps where HE does not sow.

the LORD saves where salvation is not earned, much less deserved.

the LORD creates out of nothing. (and in 6 literal 24 hour days! lol)

the LORD stands when saints are killed because of HIS name.

the LORD loves more deeply than anyone.

the LORD hates more intensely than anyone.

the LORD chooses who to love and who to hate.

the LORD chooses to hate to show how much HE loves.

the LORD does all according to HIS good purpose.

the LORD is most precious to the LORD.

the LORD wills that we proclaim HIS Gospel to the whole world. (thanks schwambach)

the LORD makes HIS name known because HE is infinitely valuable. (thanks giglio!)

the LORD compels me to be completely satisfied in HIM alone. (thanks piper!)

The LORD is good to all,and his mercy is over all that he has made. (thanks unknown psalm writer guy!)

falwell has gone

dr. jerry falwell has passed away.

here is his obituary from foxnews.com.

join me in praying for his family and church and college.

bryce

glorious

sometimes i'm amazed at the human potential for worship. we really are great worshipers. its amazing to watch another human being give away glory and honor at their own private expense of time and pride. when a person has been swept away by glory they put all pretense and pseudo-passion away. take as an example, the phenomenon of american idol. in america alone, about 40 million people sat down to watch the first episode of the latest season. to put that into perspective, there are about 301 million people living in the united states so about 13% of the entire population of the united state of america watched the season premier. again, for perspective, out of a total of 192 countries in the whole world, there are 164 countries around the world with a population 40 million or less people. so take spain, which has about 40 million people and get the entire country (boys, girls, men, women...goats) to sit down and watch this show and you pull off what the producers of american idol have pulled of in america.

we are amazing worshipers.

is it a mistake that the title of the show is american idol?

i wonder how many of that 40 million people are CHRIST followers.

i would assume that many of them think they are.

i'm gonna read matthew 10 and think on that a while.
bp