Someone is sitting in my pew

Wouldn't you know that in both Sunday School and worship service the pastors have been speaking about humility and how we ought to think of ourselves. How the cross walk is really a life of never-ending denial of self.

Pastor Monty preached about how apart from God and His Spirit we are not really in our right minds. He referenced the Gadarene demoniac that Jesus healed. AfterJesus had driven out the demons from this man, he was once again in his right mind.

When we think too highly of ourselves we are not really in our right minds.

Thinking too highly of ourselves leads to pride. Romans 13:4 states, "I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned." Wrong thinking about self invariably leads to pride. Pride.

How are you doing with that? Try a little test: the next time you walk into a full or filling room, whose seat are you looking for? The little old lady with the cane? The hard-of-hearing gentleman? The family with the little kiddoes? Not me. I'm looking for my seat. My pew. Pride.

It seems just a little suspicious that these issues, the cross life, the daily denial of self, ought to be the subject of discussion in Sunday School and in church. And God is definitely in on it because this Sunday, just to prove a point, when we walked into the sanctuary someone was sitting in our pew. Our pew. Pride.

How should we think of ourselves? Pastor Monty directed us to Romans 1 to find out what the unsaved mind is like.

1. We are depraved
2. We are filled with evil
3. We are haters of God
4. Our minds are darkened
5. We are worthy of death
6. We are enemies of God

I don't think we want these traits to be a part of our character anymore. I'm trudging along but I'm not there yet. Sadly, too often I am still looking to see if anyone is sitting in my pew.

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"Looking to the cross drives away conceit." Pastor Monty Loudenslager