Worship: The Barrier of Prideby Rick WarrenIt is not that we think we are
qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. 2
Corinthians 3:5 (NLT) *** *** ***
***Life is a struggle, but what most people don’t realize is that our
struggle, like Jacob’s in Genesis 32:22-32, is really with God! We want to be
God, and there’s no way we’re going to win that struggle, but we try
anyway.
A.W. Tozer said, “The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking,
still making little forward progress is because they haven’t yet come to the end
of themselves. We’re still trying to give orders, and interfering with God’s
work within us.”
We aren’t God, and we never will be. We’re humans, and the times when we
try to be God are the times we end up most like Satan, who tried to be equal
with God, too.
We accept our humanity intellectually, but not emotionally. We give mental
assent to the idea, but when faced with our own limitations, we react with
irritation, anger, and resentment. We want to be taller (or shorter), smarter,
stronger, more talented, beautiful, and wealthy.
We want to have it all and do it all, and become upset when it doesn’t
happen. Then, when we notice God gave others characteristics we don’t have, we
respond with envy, jealousy, and self-pity.
What it means to surrender. Surrendering to God is not
passive resignation, fatalism, or an excuse for laziness. It is not accepting
the status quo. It may mean the exact opposite: sacrificing your life in
resistance to evil and injustice, or suffering in order to change what needs to
be changed. God often calls surrendered people to do battle on his behalf. It’s
not for cowards or doormats.
Surrendering is not putting your brain in neutral and giving up rational
thinking. God would not waste the mind he gave you! God does not want robots to
serve him. Surrendering is not repressing your personality. God wants to use
your unique personality. Rather than being diminished, surrendering enhances
your uniqueness.
C. S. Lewis observed, “The more we let God take us over, the more truly
ourselves we become – because he made us.He invented all the different people
that you and I were intended to be. It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up
myself to His personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my
own.”
© 2008 Purpose Driven Life. All rights reserved.
Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake
Forest, Calif., one of America's largest and best-known churches. In addition,
Rick is author of the New York Times bestseller The
Purpose Driven Life and The
Purpose Driven Church, which was named one of the 100 Christian books that
changed the 20th Century. He is also founder of Pastors.com, a global Internet
community for ministers.
Resource
Warren, R. Feburary 16, 2009, Worship: The Barrier of Pride, Purpose Driven Life Daily
Devotional, http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/en-US/Home/home.htm
