“For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Galatians 6:3)
“Pastor, we need you in the foyer right away!” the usher said to me. I could tell by the look on his face that something significant was happening. Right there before our very eyes a first time visitor had cleared our materials off the welcome center, knocking most of them to the floor as he began setting up his books which he wanted to sell. In an arrogant prideful way he proclaimed to me that his books would do more good than anyone listening to sermons. By the time I reached him, three ushers and several of our men were with me. The confrontation lasted almost ten minutes as I tried to graciously handle the situation. It was apparent that he put himself in a league of writing that most of us would never achieve! Finally I said, “I’ve tried to reason with you, and I have tried to be kind to you. Nothing has worked, so let me put it this way. Pack up your books, and don’t come back again until you can be polite.” As he was leaving, one of the men who stood with me said, “Wow! Was that guy ever full of himself. Pastor, I read a few pages of his book. He has nothing to be so proud of!” I’ve thought of that every once in a while. I never, never, never want to act like that. Truly, if “a man thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”
For today: Lord, we know ourselves very well. May today be a day in which we glory in Your grace and not in ourselves.