6 Reasons You Should Be Proud of Yourself Both Inside and Out

5 Tips in How to Take Pride in Yourself Why Pride Is Nothing to Be Proud Of Patting Yourself on the Back: The Art of Taking Pride in Yourself

Making forward progress on the outside begins with making a leap on the inside.   Lincoln Patz Surface changes don't lead to lasting changes.  When we make changes, or say we are going to, on the surface all we are doing is "spot treatment" rather than address the real problem.  In order for things to change on the surface we must do the work of addressing the root issue(s).  And having the courage to address the root issue(s) is the leap needed if we are ever going to make forward progress. A sure sign of someone attempting surface changes without addressing the root issue(s) are statements that sound like this: "I will work harder" "I will try to change" "I" "I" "I" We are a relational people and we are also rather blind to our own root issue(s) most of the time.  So we need other people to help us address these things.  If we try to do it in "I" then all we will accomplish is surface - spot treatment -...

HUMILITY:  Not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.  ( John 3:30 )  All that thinking less of yourself is is annoying and a characteristic called false humility.  Ugh.  I'm sure you've been around someone who says they think less of themselves and acts that way too.  It's so annoying, do you agree?  Eventually people don't want to be around the person and quit showing any kind of interest in their lives.  And in a weird twist, thinking less of yourself is actually very prideful!  Which is the opposite of humility.  So if you've somehow fallen into the trap of thinking that it is humble to think less of yourself then I'm here to break it to you - it's not.   You  are actually being very prideful and self-centered.  Knock it off.  :) True humility, on the other hand, is when you think of yourself less.  The order of words changes the meaning significantly doesn't it?  It means that when ...

You find out if you understand the gospel when you fail. Approach the throne of grace with confidence? Or go away to “clean yourself” before going back to God? If we don’t approach the throne of grace boldly after sinning, we don’t understand or we forgot the Gospel.   Matt Chandler Newsflash:  you can't get clean enough before approaching God.  You can't.  So don't even try.  Just go. And go BOLDLY. Hebrews 4:16 tells us we can.  Actually Hebrews 4:14-16 tells us why we can go as dirty as we might be before God - because God gets it.  He's experienced all that we have but stopped at the point of sinning.  (He had to or else he couldn't be our Savior.)  So he gets the temptations, the doubts and fears that lead us down roads we didn't think we would ever travel, the moment of insanity in which we do something that leads us down a spiraling staircase.  He gets it and he doesn't condemn us for it...when we come to him.  But we can'...

If you have room for pride then you do not have room for love.   Unknown Pride is that obnoxious guest that takes over the room with its "me me me me" behavior.  "Look at me, listen to me, it's all about me."  That's pride and it's personality.  Pride is so consuming that eats up consideration, kindness, gratefulness, and the point of today's quote - love.  Pride is an effective obstacle to genuine relationships which include some kind of love - whether that be philia (friendship) or eros (romantic).  Pride doesn't allow the heart to have a sincere affection and love for another because it is so worried about being fed.  Pride is obese and it's time to go on a diet.  Starve yourself of pride and you will find that you have the capacity to genuinely love.

Never let your public anointing exceed your private devotion. Unknown Life that we live in front of other people is like a stage.  Who we really are is the life we live in the greenroom.  Who are you behind the closed doors of the greenroom?  Are you the same person - character - persona - as you are on the stage of your life?  While today's quote actually leans more toward people in "professional ministry" it begs a look from all of us.   The focal point of today's quote is this: is what you "preach" to the people you come into contact with daily the way you also live your life when nobody is watching?  Or have you allowed "takeover" to occur?  Have you allowed the lure of pleasing people to deter you from living out your true convictions?   When what we do on the stages of our lives doesn't match how we live in the greenroom then there's a problem.  Who we really are - what we really believe about God, work ethic, parenting, etc etc ...