Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. Mark 10:43–44 (NLT) If you think you don’t struggle with pride, it’s pretty safe to say that you do. We all fight the temptation to become overly focused on our needs and wants or trying to look good in the eyes of others. James and John had this focus when they asked Jesus if they could each secure a position beside Him in Heaven—one on His right hand and one on His left. But Jesus didn’t get angry with them. He didn’t reprimand them or call them selfish. Jesus knew that they were accustomed to a very positional …

“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 (ESV) One day, a little girl was standing at the kitchen table beside her friend when her dad asked them to sit down for dinner. After repeating himself several times, he finally became stern with her because he wanted to pray so they could get on with their dinner. The girl sat down, but with an indignant look on her face she whispered to her friend, “I may be sitting down on the outside, but I’m standing up on the inside.” Have you ever had this attitude? Jonah did. God wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh to give the people a …

And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5 (NLT) God is all-loving, all-knowing and ever-present, right? There is no one greater. So… would you want someone like that to resist you in your efforts? I’m guessing not. But that’s exactly what happens when we have pride in our hearts, according to our verse today. God resists the proud. On the other hand, you experience God’s favour, power and ability when you’re humble because your focus is right. His grace is available to you all the time, but you can’t access it if you are full of prideful, self-serving thoughts. Resisting the temptation to focus on …

Then James and John… replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honour next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” Mark 10:35, 37 (NLT) Do you have a problem with pride? I hope you answered yes because none of us are exempt from dealing with it. When you think of pride, likely you picture someone who is arrogant. But the two Greek words that translate into the words with pride or proud in the Bible also mean to think of yourself above others. You could take this to mean that you think you’re better than others, and you would be right, but the definition also includes thinking of yourself before others. In …

Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. Romans 13:8 (NLT) Legalistic religion has a way of zeroing in on rules while often missing the intended message of the scriptures. For example, legalistic religion grabs today’s verse and says, “See what God is saying? You can’t be in debt!” Of course, it’s essential to know how to handle money wisely, but that’s not what this verse is teaching. It’s saying that even if we pay off all our debts, we will always owe people love. So, let’s look for opportunities to show it. That’s how Jesus lived. He demonstrated love to everyone without reservation: the rich, the poor, drunkards, prostitutes, swindlers, thieves, societal rejects and those considered repulsive. His love transformed lives wherever …