The Price of Being Self-Absorbed
can be very high…
3 Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. 4 He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. 5 He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear[b] of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success.
6 He went to war against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. He then rebuilt towns near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. 7 God helped him against the Philistines and against the Arabs who lived in Gur Baal and against the Meunites. 8 The Ammonites brought tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread as far as the border of Egypt, because he had become very powerful.
16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. 17 Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the Lord followed him in. 18 They confronted King Uzziah and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the Lord God.”
19 Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead. 20 When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the Lord had afflicted him.
21 King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous, and banned from the temple of the Lord. ~2 Chronicles 26:3-8,16-21~
what is the issue with pride? from the c.s. lewis institute - lewis says, in mere Christianity (reflection):
According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil:
Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind…… it is Pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began.1
If this sounds like exaggeration, it will help us to know that Lewis is not simply giving us his private opinion but summarizing the thinking of great saints through the ages.
Augustine and Aquinas both taught that pride was the root of sin.2 Likewise Calvin, Luther, and many others. Make no mistake about it: pride is the great sin. It is the devil’s most effective and destructive tool.
besides money, pride is covered in The Bible a lot - over 30+ times. not that if it were only said once that it isn’t important because it still would be. when the topic is repeated multiple times throughout both old and new testament, it is for us to focus our attention to whatever the issue as it affects all, if not most, of us at one time or another.
if only uzziah paid attention to the lesson in proverbs, it would have served him well and avoided the turmoil he had gone through once his head got too big. the latter verse applies to all of us who were born after Jesus; a great reminder that The Word of God is still powerful now as it was back then:
everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished. ~proverbs 16:5~
Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. ~1 corinthians 10:12~
as it had for me in the past, when something great happened and continued to, slowly and surely, i forgot where the gifts, the blessing, had come from - The Lord. allowing those around me to feed the never-ending garbage disposal of an ego i had - you were ‘so great’, that was ‘amazing’, ‘no one else could have’ done that, and all that dribble i would eat it up.
i don’t believe it matters whether you are a man or woman, as both can easily fall prey to the devil’s scheme to have us believe something isn’t true when it is. the more we do, the less convinced we are that the problem is with us or real, then we allow the stinkin’ thinkin’ to continue until we, eventually, give into this great sin.
instead of listening to God, the prompting of the Holy Spirit, allowing the Word of God to seep in, i become preoccupied with what i have, the need for more, what’s next, etc. i’d go from allowing Jesus to change me, to where i am the leader of the band. pride can have such a hold on you that you don’t even see it until your world, the walls around you, comes crashing down.
i feel that in order to get a handle on not letting your ego become a problem, a real inventory of your life should be done. similar to step 4 in the 12 steps in recovery, you really need to uncover why this happens, how often it does, how to recognize it, what do you do now to control then eliminate it?
for me it starts when i look at the material things in life - what i have or wanting what someone else does. part of it is the lack of or scarcity mentality - perhaps some of it was from when i was young and we didn’t have much; while the other side is jealousy - why can’t i have what that guy does: the car, the house, the girl, the whatever…. after i get what i want, my big head with little ears will tend to shut off from hearing what God is saying and others whom He uses to speak through about my issues because i start believing i don’t have any.
recognizing that i was not far off as uzziah, i continue to work on this area by not allowing “me-ism” to take root - it was me who did that, i am the one who recommended it, that was my idea, instead to focus on the accomplishment of others, the crew, the staff, the other volunteers, really whomever is involved. giving praise to others lifts their spirits up while not reducing your role or participation and the value you bring it. simply taking the focus of yourself while building up others is a sign of good leadership and it fosters unity - something pride does not allow one to do.
dear Heavenly Father, thank you that you do help keep me in check, not allowing the egotistical side come through. i humbly ask for your continued guidance through your Word, your Holy Spirit, so that i may not fall for the devil’s scheme - making myself bigger than you Lord, and allowing those thoughts to take my eyes and focus off of you Jesus. in you alone do i have and continue to overcome this evil area of my life. continue your work in me, my family, to change our hearts, our minds, our attitudes, and align us with you Lord. in your mighty and powerful name i pray, amen!