What hit me reading Galatians 5 and 6 this morning? What drift are we prone to slip into, even when helping or directing someone back onto the right path?
In my perspective, something Paul writes to over and over and over again: Pride.
What does it look like?
“I should have it.” “I need this.” “I am.”
Arrogance. Superiority. Comparison. Judgment. Jealousy. Provocation. Conceit.
Take a look:
“If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself…” Galatians 6:3 NLT
“Pay careful attention to your own work…” Galatians 6:4 NLT
I believe that how I see myself and others reveals my heart. How I treat myself and others demonstrates what is in my heart, and who I am becoming. And I believe that, far more often than not, we are prone to fall into pride of the heart.
What do I mean by this?
A posture. A position. A perspective. Our chin up high. Chest out. Eyes overlooking. Comparing. Judging. Assuming. Envying. Favoring.
It’s a posture that says to ourselves “I’m better than that”, and to someone else: “I’m better than you.”
It’s not loving.
Why does this matter?
“…You will always harvest what you plant…” (From Galatians 6:7 NLT). Living to focus on yourself, self-centered and proud, will not bring you life. In fact, far to the opposite: it will bring decay and death.
It’s not hard to see this play out. When we have this posture, we may think we are “winning” for ourselves—or even winning approval. But we lose. We lose love. We lose relationally. We lose what really matters: life.
A pride-of-heart kind of living is not in line with the new creation we become through Christ. It’s completely contrary, and in opposition to, a transforming heart that is “living to please the Spirit.” It is, 100%, the wrong way to go.
How do I know? Check out the fruit that the Spirit produces in verses 22 to 23 of chapter 5.
So what can we do?
We need help.
Help seeing how this is showing up in our lives and in our relationships. And the place I find that consistently reveals these things to me is in the presence of God…
His Word.
Prayer.
And His people.
Each of these shows me a little more of my heart posture, if I’m willing to be looking at it honestly. And if I pull away from these, from His presence, I begin to lose true perspective on how my own heart is “standing”.
And finally, if I forget what I’ve been given, my heart posture elevates. But when I remember the grace and the mercy that has been poured into my life, I feel a little more grateful and a little more humble.
Moving Forward
So man, where are you today? How do you evaluate how your own heart posture is standing?
If I think I’m better than any one of you in this, I’m already deceived. I wrestle with pride of the heart every single day. And when it rears up I know it’s not what I really want, even though it feels natural.
It’s not the man that I want to be changing into.
I’d encourage you to read through Galatians 5:16–6:9 today. I needed it today. And I think it’ll be worth your time.
-Alex Gerber
“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” Philippians 2:3-4 NLT