I may do a bit of a different take on this than you might expect. In this social media drenched society in which we currently find ourselves we see all the picture perfect lives our friends and acquaintances live. Instead of being overly proud--"look how well I've done in comparison to..." we may be more likely to see the messy lives we live, the way we've failed our kids or our parents, the way we just can't seem to live up to the life we see portrayed on facebook or twitter or instagram or any other social media outlet.
We all know that nobody posts a picture of themselves 2 minutes after they get out of bed in the morning. We post only the best of ourselves. But this is an area in which we might want to take this verse to heart--Love is not proud. I'm not suggesting we all post our uglies, believe me nobody wants to see me first thing in the morning--we're talking SCARY, yes, in caps. And actually, this is not meant to be a social media slam. Maybe I should just delete this last paragraph.
Where I was going until I got sidelined was thinking we have to live up to anyone else's expectations. I really believe that is where we get off track and sometimes wander into the prideful field--thinking somehow that will deflect how things are really going. I heard Jeannie Cunnion, author of "Mom Set Free: Find the Relief From the Pressure to Get it All Right," say something that applies here. Speaking of herself, she said that while she believed Jesus took the penalty for her sin she somehow felt that she had to carry the shame. We all need to fall to our knees in repentance, but it's the shame that makes us become boastful creatures; we simply cannot allow anyone to see the ugly inside so we make sure they see what we want to portray--success, beauty, whatever makes us feel good about ourselves today.
But the truth of the matter is that Jesus not only took the penalty for everything we have ever done wrong, but He took the guilt and the shame too. God doesn't mean for us to have to carry around that weight of shame for one moment more than it takes to say, "Forgive me." How can I know this? Because in Psalm 103:12, we are told that He has removed our sin as far from us as the east is from the west. And those two never meet. You will never go so far east that you end up west because God made our earth round so if we're heading east the west will always be behind us. Another one I love is Romans 8:1, that says there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Condemnation is where shame lives. We don't have to live there any more!
So, live in the freedom that comes from the pure love of the Father. Live in the freedom that says love is not proud. I no longer have a need to portray proud-full boasting because I live in the love of the Father. I live in the love that took all my shame, payment for all my wrongdoing and all of my guilt.
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