In arrogance we trust...

   I am often appalled at myself and others. I find our arrogance to be astounding and repulsive. I say our because lest I mortify the sin ( that more in a later blog) I too find that I abound with the repugnant smell of pride and arrogance.  We tout our opinions left and right as if they were pearls of wisdom from on high. We let our tongues run amiss with our self centered thoughts and ideas without any sort of restraint or forethought or without regard to the consequences to others. We preciously guard our right to our opinion and wrap it about us like a warm and comforting blanket, promising the security and validity of our thoughts. However, we expect others to give up what we value so much when standing in the presence of our opinions.
  Sadly, I can lose count of the times when I have valued my opinion over another person. Being free to say what was on my tongue became more important and prized than anyone who might be within earshot.  Oh the grief I have felt over this. To cringe and and mourn over the way I aggressively and forcefully and mercilessly expressed my opinions over things important and things inconsequential.  Shame and regret, sometimes they still haunt me...especially now that I know better, now that I know the true purpose for my life and that it is not about me. In 1 Corinthians, Paul speaks over and over again about his restraint in using any kind of talk or rhetoric...anything that would draw the glory away from God. He keep reiterating the point that it is all about the Gospel. And no where do our opinions find a home when we seek to pursue our true purpose in this life.
   We have liberty and grace in Christ, but our liberty and grace is not to come at the expense of others. And our opinions are exactly that...our opinions. Most are about things to which there can be no right or wrong...simply shades of variety which make us all unique and interesting. Yet for such foolishness, we risk the soul of another who may not know the love and acceptance we feel from Christ. We would rather feel vindicated by the approval of others than to know the true intimacy that comes with submission to God and the yielding of our rights and opinions to Him. As ever, I will daily struggle in this fight as well. But that is the difference...the fight against and not the surrender to sin.