Pride of Life
Watch people long enough and you'll see it everywhere. The car they drive. The neighborhood they chose. The brand on the hat. The silence that says I'm too important to respond quickly. The instant reply that says I'm too disciplined not to.
Nobody has to teach us this. We came out of the womb reading the room, and we've been doing it ever since.
The Bible doesn't pretend this isn't real — it names it. "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world" (1 John 2:16). The pride of life. That's it. That's the whole game in four words.
The Christian isn't immune to it. But he's been shown a different table — where the last is first, and the greatest is the one on his knees serving. A Saviour who had no form nor comeliness, and no place to lay His head, and still holds every name above His own.
The world's scoreboard is real. It just doesn't have the final say.
Pastor Fortunato
Founding Pastor & Preacher of the Word.
Pilgrim Baptist Church — Cookeville, Tennessee