The Dirty Thirteen

“For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these things come from within, and they defile a person.” Mark 7:21-23

June 7, 2023

The ultimate spiritual felony is unbelief. It is a fist in God’s face. The other side of unbelief is pride. It is the sin that makes God seem irrelevant. Jesus posts pride as one of thirteen sins that find living space within each of us. The problems that plague our society come not from our environment but from the heart of man. Like a nest of wasps ready to swarm, we are all carriers. Among them is pride. Like an infectious disease pride creates discontent, ingratitude, presumption, rudeness, bigotry, and lust for power. Jesus alerts His disciples to the dragon of pride because the religious leaders were more concerned with ritualism and the ceremonial washing of hands than they were with unclean hearts. The smoke of self-righteousness can cover up such things as feelings of moral superiority to others, aggressive and pompous self-regard (e.g., creating and boasting in our group identity), anger, complaining against or passing judgment on God. The sewerage of selfism swirls all about us. One thing we can do is to identify the ways in which pride can manifest itself in our lives: avoidance of certain people, being defensive and blame-shifting, using attention-getting tactics, minimizing my own sin and shortcomings. Some healthy self-awareness can bring us to the feet of Jesus.
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“Search Me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.” Psalm 139:23-24