The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17
I never ceased to be amazed at God’s timing, even the timing of how He speaks to me from His Word, notes, and letters, readings, that all seem to come at just the right time.
This has been a horrible week in the life of our country. I learned early on from my mentor, Pastor Bill Raws, that I need to be very careful about using my position and the public platform God has given me. I certainly have an opinion on many issues, but I have to be very careful of where and how I express my opinions given our broad constituency.
A friend of the ministry gave me a card that contrasts PROUD AND BROKEN people. It was very timely given the events that have recently occurred in the life of our country.
God hates pride!!! But left unchecked, our pride and ego can cause mass destruction.
Nancy DeMoss Wolgemouth from Revive Our Hearts contrasts the differences between proud and broken people. I will give you part of the list today and the rest next week.
| Proud People | Broken People |
| Focus on the failures of others | Overwhelmed with a sense of their own spiritual need |
| A critical, fault-finding spirit; look at everyone else’s faults with a microscope but their own with a telescope | Compassionate; can forgive much because they know how much they have been forgiven |
| Self-righteous; look down on others | Esteem others better than themselves |
| Independent, self-sufficient spirit | Have a dependent spirit; recognize their need for others |
| Have to prove they are right | Willing to yield their right to be right |
| Claim rights; have a demanding spirit | Yield their rights; have a meek spirit |
| Self-protective of their time, their rights & their reputation | Self-denying |
| Desire to be served | Motivated to serve others |
| Desire to be a success | Motivated to be faithful and to make others a success |
| Desire self-advancement | Desire to promote others |
| Have a drive to be recognized & appreciated | Have a sense of their own unworthiness; thrilled that God would use them at all |
| Wounded when others are promoted & they are overlooked. | Eager for others to get the credit; rejoice when others are lifted up |
| Have a subconscious feeling, This ministry/church/job is privileged to have me and my gifts”, think of what they can do for God. | Heart attitude is, “I don’t deserve to have a part in ministry”; know that they have nothing to do to offer God except the life of Jesus flowing through their broken lives |
| Feel confident in how much they know | Humbled by how very much they have to learn |
| Self-conscious | Not concerned with self at all |
| Keep others at arm’s length | Willing to risk getting close to others & to take risks of loving immediately |
| Quick to blame others | Accepts personal responsibility & and can see where they are wrong in a situation |
One of my long time mentors, Dr. B, used to say, “Some people not only write their own press releases – they actually read them too!”
My guess is that you read these two charts and were quick to say, “I know someone who is a proud person.” Maybe, just maybe, you need to reread the two lists again and ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to reveal if there are any pride issues He wants you to look at. It’s painful, but God loves and desires us to have a broken spirit and a contrite heart.
I had to look at areas in my own life. It’s painful, but God. I’ll share the rest of the list next Monday.
Living in light of the Gospel,
Bill Welte, President/CEO
America’s Keswick
You can write to me at bwelte@americaskeswick.org
Written by Bill Welte, President/CEO of America’s Keswick: Bill has been married to his childhood sweetheart for 40+ years and has four married kids and 12 amazing grandkids. He loves music and is an avid reader.
