Pastor’s Thoughts – 09-07-2025

In 1968 Frank Sinatra recorded what came to be the hit song, “I Did It My Way” with lyrics that glorify the theme of man’s personal independence. Most people had no problem with the lyrics. In fact, the trend of society was and is in agreement with the attitude of pride reflected in the lyrics as being a good thing. There has been much talk through the years advancing a self-esteem movement. Youngsters have been told they can do anything or be anything they want to be. The impression of such language is that it is all up to the individual. Put another way, all of us can set our own destiny by being strong willed, ambitious, and having the right attitude of self-esteem. This philosophy does not agree with our Lord’s attitude toward pride clearly expressed in the Bible. Of the seven things Proverbs chapter six addresses specifically that God hates, the first is pride. It was pride that was at the center of Satan’s fall from heaven (Isa. 14:14). God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble,” (James 4:6).

In the greatest sermon ever preached what our Lord Himself said in what we call the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3). The Bible addresses the fact that we are naturally self-centered. Self-centeredness is the opposite of love. To love is to place others before ourselves. Paul gives us a right perspective of this, “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted each a measure of faith” (Rom. 12:3). The idea is that we should see clearly the truth about ourselves and live accordingly. When we see ourselves as we really are, it is impossible to be given over to pride.  A Christian is not someone who has chosen to have a relationship with God because he is smarter than others who do not, but a Christian is a person who knows he owes everything to His Lord. Paul would say after explaining that God has chosen the foolish things of the world, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:31).

When we are blessed with talents, abilities, or even good fortune in life which we did not earn or merit and boastfully attribute these to ourselves, we have become vain in our thinking. When Eric Liddell, the great Scottish Christian runner refused to run at the Olympics on Sunday in 1924, He said, “I am not running for myself or Scottland, I am using my gift for the Lord. He was convinced that being in church on Sunday was more beneficial and pleasing to His Lord. He had repeatedly attributed his ability to run fast, not to himself, but to the Lord who made him. He was not puffed-up about his ability to run but was expressive of giving all credit to God. Let us be sure as we live in a world which has largely left God out of correct thinking, that we do not place ourselves in the place of God. Paul accurately and wonderfully states this concerning Christ Jesus, “That He himself will come to have first place in everything” (Col. 1:18).

The attitude of seeing ourselves as His creatures, or as the Scripture says, “bond slaves of Jesus Christ,” also admonishes us to, “Present our bodies as living and holy sacrifices, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service of worship” (Rom. 12:1). If we instead of boasting, realize the wickedness of thinking that we can live independent of our Creator, we can begin to correctly give God the glory that belongs only to Him. We really cannot serve God apart from a thankful, correctly focused attitude expressed in all living. This begins with a righteous assessment of God, and a righteous assessment of ourselves. We cannot go about worshipping Him only on Sunday, when what we must be about is worshipping Him with our lives each day. There is no such thing as a part-time Christian. If we are set to please our Lord everyday in the things we do, our boast is not in ourselves, but in Him. “Let the one who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows that I am the LORD who exercises mercy, justice, and righteousness on the earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD” (Jer. 9:24). The bottom line of this thinking, which is the opposite of our pride, is found in Psalm 37. “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it, “(Ps. 37:4-5). The Christian life is a life turned over to the Lord. It is not an easy life, but a changed and a devoted life where God is at the center. Our boast will be in Him for all eternity, and it begins now! Instead of, “I Did It My Way,” it is, “He Did It His Way Through Me!”