1 John 5:21 (NKJV) Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
What a simple directive and piece of wisdom to live by.
There are so many things that pull on us each day. There are temptations, lusts, pressures from other people, and the list can go on and on.
So many things can become idols. Most times when we think of idols, we think of tangible things. But other types of things can become idols too. So let’s talk about one of the worst ones.
PRIDE.
Yes, pride can be an idol. Pride can destroy us if we’re not careful. It can cause us to do things that we know we shouldn’t do, just to impress people or to keep up appearances among those that know us.
Pride can hurt people very badly. It can hurt us, that’s true for sure, but it can cause great harm to those we come into contact with on a regular basis too. Here’s a true story to demonstrate this. I’ll try to keep it short.
Someone we know was at someone else’s house, giving them a haircut. The haircut was finished and the person getting the haircut was talking with the other person. In the middle of a sentence, she stopped talking and froze in place. She didn’t move, not even a little. She didn’t respond to anything at all, but just sat there completely still and unresponsive.
The person who had cut her hair tried to get her to respond, but it was useless. So she called the woman’s daughter, but got no answer. She then called 911 and told them to send an ambulance immediately.
After calling the ambulance, she called the lady’s husband and told him he needed to get home right away. Shortly thereafter, the woman came out of the seizure she was having and picked up where she left off, like nothing had happened. In fact, she pretended nothing had happened at all.
The ambulance showed up and the lady who had had the seizure told the medics that she was fine and it was a mistake… that they should never have been called. The husband also vouched for her and told them that they should never have been called.
At some point not long after the ambulance left, the woman who had suffered the seizure made a comment about worrying about what the neighbors might think. And the person who had called the ambulance was made to feel like they should never have done so, hurting her feelings pretty badly. She was, after all, only doing what she thought was the right thing to do.
Pride kept these people from treating the other person respectfully. Pride caused them to say things that caused her to feel belittled. This idol, pride, caused them to be more worried about what the neighbors might think than about the person who had tried to help.
So, little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen
Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie
Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808
401-315-0902
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