Judgment Against Pride

BY Jessica Mathisen

My husband and I entered parenthood by choosing to become licensed foster parents. After walking through infertility, we sensed God calling us to a different story.

The stories of children in care were heartbreaking, and as we listened to them during our training, it was easy for us to puff ourselves up with pride. We falsely believed that we could do a much better job than the biological parents of the children in care. 

But when three siblings showed up to our doorstep, all of our pride was completely crushed in the faces of children who needed more than we could give. We had nothing but our Savior to call upon in our time of need.

Blissful ignorance. That is what most of us prefer when it comes to our sins. We know we have blind spots, sure. But when it comes down to it, we can often excuse away our sins by rationalizing and comparing ourselves to others. 

“It’s not that bad.” “At least I don’t do what she does.” But sin is sin. And God hates it. In our reading, Amos speaks on behalf of the Lord and says, “I loathe Jacob’s pride and hate his citadels, so I will hand over the city and everything in it” (Amos 6:8).

Amos shared a heavy message with the Israelites. As he pointed out their ignorance to the flagrant materialism of their society at the expense of others, he foretold God’s judgment against their pride by warning them of all that was to come. 

Put yourself in the Israelites’ shoes for a moment, but bring this imagery into modern times. You are living a comfortable life and want for nothing. Your home is impeccable, and you have your dream job. You are well respected in your community and highly esteemed at your church. But you are far from God. You have mistaken your comfort for His blessing when He just wants your heart. 

Proverbs 11:2 says, “When arrogance comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.” When we consider the lengths to which God has gone to pursue our hearts, we must remember that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17).

The Israelites were wrong to attribute their worldly success to the blessing of their heavenly Father. My husband and I were wrong to assume we were better than our children’s biological parents. And we, as daughters of our heavenly Father, are wrong to allow pride to skew our view of the world around us and blind us to our sin. Let us humble ourselves before the Lord.

Praise Him! He gives us grace upon grace by allowing us to see our sins as we come to Him, ready to be conformed to the image of Christ.