Good morning!
Welcome to your morning coffee! May our Heavenly Father strengthen us to deny our pride and welcome others to speak truth in love into our lives. Father, it is so hard to let others teach us, to let others hold us accountable to your will. Help us! We need your divine help to do this impossible thing. To listen to the truth when it hurts to do so. Please, in the name of Jesus and by the in-dwelling power of the Spirit, humble us until we are able to see loving truth as a gift, even when it is hard to hear. God let your will be our desire!
Your Morning Song: "Humble Thyself in the Sight of the Lord" by Acappela
Your Monday Morning Sermon Recap: Proverbs 13:10
Where there is strife, there is pride,
but wisdom is found in those who take advice.
...
The book of Proverbs is such a life-giving, practical book. Much of what is found there can be as simple as read it and then do it. But what is the overarching picture that is painted by all of these seemingly disconnected, if useful little sayings?
You will find at the beginning of chapter thirteen and also at the beginning of the book itself, a father is sharing wisdom with their son. And so too is our Heavenly Father speaking now to us through these proverbs, giving us wisdom to live by not just as one who commands and expects, but one who loves and protects.
So the wisdom of the book of Proverbs is relational, loving, gracious. It's also not real.
What? What does that mean?
It means that God our Father is not telling how the world is, he is telling us how it ought to be. The world of godly behaviors and truths are wholly aspirational. They are the ideal world painted for us, his children, in words. God is calling out to us with each and every verse. Live like this. And for those of us who know Jesus as our personal savior and whole-body Lord, our hearts leap to chase after the joy of being ever closer to him through deeper and deeper obedience. Our Father calls us to fully embrace the ideal, heavenly world of his whole-life instruction in Proverbs.
And within this ideal world he paints for us in Proverbs, our Father says this in chapter thirteen, verse ten, "be teachable. Be accountable."
The idea of "pride" here in the NIV translation, or "insolence" in the ESV, as it relates to "strife" concerns the choices we make. Prideful is the person who makes choices without consulting God or anyone else. Isolated by our own pride, we will bring nothing but strife, unnecessary, unending conflict, deflating or even destroying all of our relationships. The closer to us the more the destruction.
But the one who takes advice is seen as wise, admirable, bringing peace and true unity in respect and love.
Which kind of person are we? There will always be the temptation to prideful isolation in our choices. Will we deny ourselves and invite those that love our Father in Heaven to speak truth in love into our lives?
Just as Jesus said over and over in the Gospels, that he did not come to do his will, but to do the Father's will. Do you know anyone who submits their will to God like that? Do you know them well enough to invite them to hold you accountable? Are you willing to let them wound you for love? Are you willing to create a system of people who love God and love you that can hold you accountable? Are you able to do this for someone else as well? Are you brave enough to invite accountability and hold others accountable?
This is a hard thing. But it is absolutely necessary as a loving command from God to his children. Be accountable to others. Be teachable. Be approachable. Deny yourself and submit your whole life to our Heavenly Father as he speaks to you through those that love him and you.
Comments