How To Be Like The Devil
"Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him [the Lord] will destroy; no one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will [the Lord] endure." - Psalm 101:5
Do you want to live like the devil? For some of us, that's easy. For all of us, we come by it naturally. But there are two character traits that make us most like Satan.
1. Pride: C. S. Lewis said, "The utmost evil is pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness...are mere flea bites in comparison. It was through pride that the Devil became the Devil. It is the complete anti-God state of mind." Pride is thinking more highly of ourselves than we should--feeling we are better than others. It is arrogant conceit. Pride is, most of all, feeling no need for God, considering yourself self-reliant. The person filled with this kind of pride is most like the Devil himself.
2. Malicious gossip or slander: the Greek word for this is "diabolos," also translated "the Devil." People who gossip and slander others are like the Devil. In short, he's just a big liar.
Pride, malicious gossip, and lying are character traits that make us most like the Devil. Man made in the image of God looks pretty good, but when man resembles the Devil he sure is ugly. Who do you look like?
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6 Comments
good. But not enough. - John
It is difficult to overemphasize the effect of pride in our lives. Thank you for driving this home - I, for one, need to be constantly reminded of the dangers of pride and the joys of true humility. - Bill M.
CS Lewis is so right. - Austin
There is a very fine line between pride and confidence/ self esteem in oneself which are both healthy traits and are not neccesarily selfish notions. Yes, pride in overabundance is not a good thing but in alot of cases, those who feel good about themself are more prone to extend a helping hand to those in need. I am proud of who I am but not too proud to understand I need to better myself everyday in how I treat others and how I approach my relationship with god. - Matthew
There's a fine line between pride and confidence, and I think everyone stuggles to draw it. We all have our prideful moments and we all have our low self-esteem moments. It's hard to be a healthy confident 24/7. I've never met someone who was able to do that.
A confident person is still humble. Jesus was confident while on earth. Nevertheless, he was still the humblest person. That's one of the reasons we strive to be Christ-like. - Kelsey B
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:8-10)Nuff said...
- Clint