As I think about going to seminary, the Lord has been teaching me the deep things of His heart concerning what it means to be an anointed servant of the Lord.
One of the things He’s been showing me how religious pride trips up his servants today and how it trips me now.
Religious pride is the boasting that comes from anything other than our relationship with Jesus used to elevate ourselves above others. It affects many laymen as well some of the most gifted preachers I know.
We boast in our denominations
We boast in our schools of thoughts
We boast in our Bible knowledge
We boast in our gifts or skills
We boast in our book deals
We boast in the quality of our messages
We boast in our self-righteousness
We boast in our discipline
We boast in our churches
We boast in the size of our ministry
We boast in our degrees
We boast in who we know and what circle we belong to
The truth is, there are many things we boast in other than Jesus Christ.
This wicked religious spirit keeps us from living in full worship to Jesus Christ. It steals glory from Him and it keeps us from living an empowered life before God. The Holy Spirit will not give His power because the religious spirit has the seal of “self-sufficiency” all over it. And He warned me that if I should not carry this awful thing in me.
God deliver me from a religious spirit…
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world
Galatians 6:4
