Daily Devotional: Tuesday, May 18

Speaker: Ben Sigman

Theme: Pride

Weekend Music links on iTunes: All Because of Jesus by Fee; No Not One by Christy Nockels; Love Came Down by Ben Cantelon; Rescue by Desperation Band.

Read:  John 4:1-26 (The Message Translation)

Think: Pastor Ben spoke this weekend of the pitfalls of pride: it prevents our personal growth, it produces anxiety, and the real kicker, and it angers God.  One of solutions to dealing effectively with our pride is to realistically evaluate one’s self.

I immediately thought of Mr. O’Hearn.  You probably don’t know him but he was my 4^th grade teacher.  What an effective teacher he was!  Not just the ABC’s and multiplication tables that are useful to us, but more importantly lifelong lessons in accountability.  Mr. O’Hearn told each of us that we could fill out our own report card each semester.  Yep, the one that says things like “Student regularly completes assignments on time”, “Student is a pleasure to have in class”, “Student shows great promise but sometimes lacks the motivation to excel”.  So you can imagine how delighted each of us were as we got to evaluate our own performance.  This is going to be a cakewalk, a slam-dunk, my allowance will surely double, I can stay up till after nine; I am on my way to elementary school stardom!!   Not so fast my friend.  

I did get to fill out my report card….but each of us also got to face Mr. O’Hearn one on one,  mano y mano in the hallway as he carefully walked us through our answers.   He would provide us feedback and ask us whether we wanted to reconsider our answers.  After the feedback he would ask us questions like; “Is that still the grade you would give yourself this semester?” It was brilliant. He never forced us to change our answers, but he knew in his wisdom that the biggest barrier to learning was a lack of self-awareness.  I can honestly remember changing some of my answers, as well as fervently holding on to others.  

Imagine if you will for a moment, face to face with Jesus, and handing in your report card.  Where would he nod in agreement?  Where would he quietly remind you of maybe a different perspective? I love the verse that was in our outline this weekend:

“The day will surely come when God, by Jesus Christ, will judge everyone’s secret life.” Romans 2:16 (NLT)

Do:  Ask God to reveal His truth to you.  Spend some time reading the Bible and examine yourself realistically in the mirror.  Are really you who you say you are?  Find a friend or develop a friendship with someone who is willing to see you as are.

Pray:Heavenly Father you see us and know us as we are, not as we see ourselves. Thank you for your truth, and your love.  Thank you for your passion to grow us into what your heart desires.  Help me to see myself as you do. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.

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