Run the Race

My husband has told me several times that he thinks I would have made a “great” cross-country runner because he thinks I have the right build.  I have always replied that I may have the build, but that doesn’t mean that I would be any good!  I need to be stronger, have greater endurance, and more heart to push myself onward when I feel like I can’t. 

I have never considered myself much of a runner.  My runs are usually a little more than one mile, and my ‘long” runs never go much more than two miles.  Besides Scott, other people have also thought that I should be a better runner than I actually am, even assuming that I could “easily run six miles’.  I have to reply that I absolutely can not run six miles, much less three miles thank you very much! 

Well, last Sunday, excited and a little nervous about how my body would respond, I decided to try a 3 mile run (I believe it was actually a little over three miles), because I knew they were right.  I could run three miles, maybe even six with a well rested body and lots of adrenaline.  It was time for me to stop being content with comfortable, and instead, push myself to start reaching my potential.  Running the 3+ miles was hard work, and I had to give myself plenty of encouragement along the way, but I did it--with a little bit of help and encouragement from God too!  

About two thirds of the way through the run I had an epiphany: as a Christian I am also supposed to be running a great race that requires perseverance.  Hebrews 12:1 says “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” What is necessary for perseverance? Suffering.  Paul says, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Romans 5:3-4).  It is the same as a long run when you feel your body aching and fatigued asking you to quit, but you must press on and persevere. For by doing so, and not taking the easy way out and quitting, you do develop great character and strength and find that, yes, you can indeed do it.  From this realization of course comes hope, and hope is a great and powerful thing.  As I finished my last third of my run I told God that I was willing to run His race and follow His course and I knew that no matter what happened, God would not forsake me. “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Duet. 31:8) 

As I told God that I trusted him and knew that he would provide for me whatever I need to get through the toughest times of the “race”, it started to sprinkle!  Light, refreshing, cool drops of rain encouraged me onward, pushing me towards the finish.  I rejoiced and praised God for this simple, but beautiful and perfect gift! I think this was God saying “Yes, Whitney, I will be here for you always and give you what you need, never fear.”  In the same way he will give us exactly what we need when we need it, encouraging us until we reach the Finish and our eternal Home.

What is this “race”?  It is throwing off anything that hinders us or causes us to sin; it is living a righteous life, striving after what is holy, and blameless and pure. It is choosing God’s plan over our own comfort.  1 Corinthians 9:25-27 says, “²⁵Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. ²⁷No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”  Paul explains that he “beats his body” in order to discipline himself to do what is right.  To overcome sin in our lives, especially habitual sin, we can’t play nice with it.  Sin needs to be destroyed, and to do that we may need to continually remind and discipline ourselves to overcome those sins.  This is not easy, and this may not come without pain.  For me, I need to constantly reprimand myself for choosing my way over God’s way, for considering myself better than others, and for judging the very people that Jesus came to save (Luke 4:17-19), just to name a few. 

We are not only called to run this race, but to win it. “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” (1 Corinthians 9:24).  Just as you can’t win a foot race by only running select parts of it and sauntering through others, you also can’t win our life race by choosing to only eliminate certain sins, or choosing to follow God only so far, but no further because “that’s just crazy” and “he might ask too much.”  That’s a lie!  He will never ask “too much,” he gave Moses what he needed to free the Israelites, he gave me the rain to finish my run, and he’ll give you what you need. (Matthew 6:30, 8:26, 14:30-32, 16:8-9)

If it is not fear that stops us from running the race then it is comfort. Many times we only “run the race” when we feel like it--which really isn’t being in a race at all!  We use the same excuses as I did as to why I “couldn’t” go on a long run; we’re not strong enough, we don’t have the endurance, and we just plain lack the will.  Running the race could get uncomfortable after all, and we like being comfortable!  When God calls us to step out in faith and trust him and take a “risk”, we often recoil and tell him “no thanks, that would make me uncomfortable and I wouldn’t want me to be uncomfortable, would you?”  Well, if making us uncomfortable forces us to trust him alone, focuses our attention on him, draws us closer to him, reveals his glory, refines us (thereby shaping us into a righteous man/woman after his own heart), and causes us to have greater faith as he provides in a way that only He can, then, yes, he might want to shake things up a bit in our lives.

So let us trust in God.  He has great plans for us if we would only run the race to win it.  Don’t let fellow man put you, or God, in a box. “ Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?” (Isaiah 2:22).  Why should man determine what you can and cannot do?  After all, it is the Lord who reigns, not man, so let us trust in him only.

Just as in life when you push yourself to your limits physically, or in any other area of life, where you sacrifice, have to persevere, and break through limits, it is so rewarding when you finish the race.  Your perseverance pays off and you are thrilled and proud because you actually did it! You pushed through and you accomplished something great. It is the same when you run your spiritual race.  There will be hard times where you need to really push yourself to keep going and stay focused, but the end result is more than just a sense of accomplishment.  Romans 8:18 says, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” 2 Corinthians 4:17 says, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”  The race is tough yes, Jesus tells us it will be, but it is more rewarding to run it and run it full out knowing that you have done your best.  So let us do it, make the decision, no more excuses, and no more fear.

Being fake

Satan is the master deceiver, but I would say I’m pretty darn good at deceiving myself too!  I like to be “good”, I like everything to be ok, and I really like to be right. Because of this, when I pray and present myself before God, I often only “reveal” surface level things about me and my life at that moment.  I’m Whitney after all, and I’m “good.”  Help!  How pathetic is that? 

 God already knows every intimate detail about me, who am I fooling?  Only myself.  God is our heavenly loving Father, he wants us to seek him (Deut. 4:29), to love him (Deut. 6:5), to cast all our burdens on him (Mat. 11:28-30), and to be friends with him (John 15:15). If I do not choose to be intimate with God, then God becomes a “Force” whom I either view to be manipulated, or to be displeased with me.  When he’s a “Force”, I falsely seek to please Him. It is false, because I don’t seek to please out of love for God or to bring Him glory.  In my twisted mind I think if I just do “enough” to keep God happy and keep some imaginary “good” classification before God, then everything is ok.*  But this is not ok!  When I do this I am being completely fake! In order to have a fully enriching and fruitful relationship with God, I need him to be my closest friend.  I need to do all the things I normally do with my closest friends: not be fake for starters, spend time with God, trust him, respect him, communicate (not just me talking all the time, but actually taking time to listen to him), not be controlling, not be duplicitous (Matthew 6:24), and even going through trials together which bring us closer.

When I take down my defenses and get real with God, I discover great freedom.  I find Proverbs 28:13 to be so true, “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”  When I confess my sin, bluntly tell God my frustrations,** let him take my burdens, trust him with my future, seek him alone, and listen to him, I find so much peace.  Another perk of confessing my sin, is that I recognize I’m no more worthy than anybody else of God’s favor and grace.  With this recognition comes humility, which I don’t always possess a lot of, but humility is essential to be an instrument of God who calls us to love, love, love everyone.  Having pride, or selfishness, does not allow me to love to the full extent of which I am called by God.  (I read this devotion today, which talks of pride and humility and it spoke to my heart so feel free to check it out!) 

Abba Father, I am sorry for when I do not come to you in my times of need, forgive me of my pride.  Help me to lay down my pride and selfishness daily and instead take up humility and love.  Give me the energy and compassion to love others as you do Father.  Help me to recognize myself for the unworthy sinner that I am so that I can recognize my need of you, and so that I am not proud or judgmental.  Thanks for listening to me and loving me always. I am in absolute awe that you count me as your friend.

Yours, 

Amen

*By the way, this type of thinking fuels the lie that God likes you when you’re good and when you’re not then he doesn’t.  Instead, God’s love is steadfast and unchanging, and he loves us always.  When we believe the lie it prevents us from having the pure, intimate relationship with God that we are called to have.

**Yes, you can tell God when you’re ticked, either at him or others, and even use violent language if necessary.  Why? Because you’re being honest and real which is necessary for a healthy relationship with anyone. Once you let your frustration out you’re more ready to move on and more willing to take God’s hand to help you up. If you don’t you may become embittered toward God.  If you look you’ll find many Psalmists (loudly) voiced their frustrations as well!

Check yourself

I recently finished reading the second book of Francine Rivers' Mark of the Lion series (I love the series so far!), and as I read about the developments in one of the character's life, my conscience was struck with the realization that I do not know for certain if I am doing God's will. In the book, the character of Phoebe pours herself out and wears herself down while caring for poor widows and their families.  She visits them everyday, sews new clothing for them every night, and brings them food, money, and love.  However, though noble and good, this is not God's will for her at this time. Eventually, Phoebe suffers a stroke, becomes paralyzed on one side of her body, and can no longer communicate by talking, yet she is still fully aware. It is in this state that she truly understands and accepts God's will for her, which is to pray unceasingly for her two children who rejected God and live lives that no mother would want for her children. Before the stroke, Phoebe was too busy and too fatigued from her work with the poor to pray for her children.  I think she subconsciously used her work to distract her from facing the messed up state of her children's lives, thus avoiding and failing to pray for them when they needed it most.

We so easily get distracted!  This is especially true here in the U.S.  Our lives our busy and filled with excess.  Not only that, but we are told to seek our own; the media is full of messages that we are number one, our needs are first, and we can fill our needs by doing x, y, and z.  In response to this, God may choose to take us by the shoulders and plunk us down into situations (possibly not as serious as a stroke!) where we have no choice but to be redirected.  This may be frustrating and confusing at first, but then often we have that "Ahhh, yeah, ok, I get it God" moment.  God did not have to "redirect" me for me to come to the realization that I don't truly know if I am doing God's will. I don't know his will because I havn't asked him recently. I felt God leading me in his will a couple of months ago and so I started down that path, but I haven't consulted him since! I've just gone on my merry little way, asking for help and guidance with certain things, but never pausing long enough to actually listen to God. How could God give me guidance when I would not be lead?  Yes, God is all powerful and he could sit me down and tell me how it is, but that is not his nature.  From the beginning he's given us choices and he's let us make them for better or for worse.*   

In order to follow and carry out God's will we must seek his will.  It doesn't work to go about our daily lives focused on ourselves and only pay attention to Him when life gets bumpy. We are called to a greater purpose.  If I truly desire to know God's will, then I must have both eyes open wide and see beyond myself.  I must seek God every single day so that I can be filled up with his Holy Word (Matthew 4:4), which brings wisdom, truth, lasting joy, peace, comfort, protection, and displays God's unceasing love. With my eyes open and the armor of God on, I can go and do God's good and perfect will--with his help of course!  Romans 12:2 "²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."  

Don't know if you're doing God's will?  A pastor once told me that you know if you are doing God's will if you are "bearing fruit," for this is what Christ appointed us to do (John 15:16 and Romans 7:4).  There are two main thoughts on what Jesus and Paul are referring to when they say to "bear fruit."   One thought, is that when we bear fruit we will possess the fruits of the spirit "²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."(Galatians 5:22-23)  So in this case we will know if we're doing the will of God if these qualities make up who we are.  The other thought is that to bear fruit is to show God's light to the lost, so that they may see and believe and no longer be lost, but be adopted as sons and daughters of God (Romans 8:23)--this would be bearing fruit for God's harvest "³⁶Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together." John 4:36.  This "harvest" is God claiming as his own, thus granting eternal life, all who claim Jesus as their savior.  I believe that both of these thoughts are what it means to bear fruit as both work perfectly together.  The first step to bearing fruit is to give up control and completely trust in the Lord ⁷ "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.  8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Jeremiah 17:7-8  

Father God, I am sorry for not seeking your will but instead selfishly and ignorantly always following my own.  Help me not to deceive myself by pretending to seek your will just so that I can put a "check mark in the box."  Instead, let me seek after you with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, and with all my strength.  I will need your help in doing this Lord!  I am so easily distracted! Let it be as it is in the prayer you taught us to pray, "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven."  Wow!  If your will was done on earth as it is in heaven, earth would be unrecognizable! It would be a utopia where unselfish love for one another would abound.  Help me to seek you in whatever I do, for it is my desire to glorify you and you alone will sustain me, you alone can give me my deepest desires.  Thank you for banishing worry and fear, thank you for giving me peace and purpose, thank you for your absolute faithfulness and love.  All glory be to you, in Jesus name, Amen.

³⁴"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." John 4:34

*Because he loves us he doesn't force us to do anything, but rather leads us using the Bible, and the circumstances were faced with, some disciplinary, are all to his glory, all to refine us and make us more like him.

The Right Mindset

I've discovered that I often could care less about God's big plan, for the world or for me. Usually, I'm completely caught up in the here and now, my mind is preoccupied with it and I can't see beyond it. In the mornings I think about the day before me and the possible challenges I might face at work, or the things I want to get done around the house that night. I focus on the weeks and weekends and how busy each is going to be or how I'm looking forward to spending time with Scott once it is the weekend, or once fill-in-the-blank. Usually, the farthest I look into the future is a couple of years from now, wondering what I will do for my occupation or if I will go back to school for something. I am happy when everything goes my way, I can become moody when things don't. I am focused mostly on me in the here and now. If you are like me well, I'm afraid there is something very wrong with our mindsets!

In Colossians 3:1-2 Paul writes "1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things." Or as The Message translation of the Bible puts it: "1-2 So if you're serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don't shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that's where the action is. See things from his perspective." You see, the world is so much bigger than us! When we are focused on whatever is right in front of us we fail to see the "grand design." We chase after meaningless, worldly things though in the end they gain us nothing, if not bitterness.

It is important to think bigger than the here and now when we consider the things we desire for ourselves, when things are going well, and when life is challenging. When I desire things, an "eternal outlook" helps to keep me from desiring/idolizing/worshipping worldly things that really aren't that good for me and will turn to "dust" (Ecclesiastes!). When times are good, this outlook helps me to keep things in perspective and reminds me what I am here for, to do God's will and bless others. When times are tough having an eternal mindset can make all the difference.

Granted, I haven't experienced the tough times that some have, but I know that it is crucial during these times to follow the advice in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 "¹⁶Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." First, in verse 16, I love that if we lean on God he gives us all the strength we need and he, The Living Water (John 4:10), The Bread of Life (John 6:35), renews and sustains us through difficult times. The struggles we experience are only momentary, and as Christians, what waits for us in eternity "far outweighs them all." This means that if you put the worst things that happen to you, or anyone, in this life here on earth on one side of a balance and the glory of eternal life in God's presence on the other side of the balance there is no competition! Or as Paul writes in Romans 8:18 "¹⁸I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us."and Paul was definitely a man who knew what suffering was. The promise of eternity with God is too great, God's just too awesome! Praise God!

When I look back on the tougher times in my life I can see benefits that have resulted from each one. In middle school, I struggled through some hard times and at that time I wasn't too happy with God for allowing these struggles, but now I believe God put these struggles in place to prevent me from going down a certain detrimental path that I am sure I would have otherwise. Then in highschool, God addressed what caused me so much pain in middle school, and blessed me with something much greater than I had imagined as an answer to my prayers. Thank you God! I have seen similar things happen in others lives as well, where God denies us something, or gives us hardship, only for things to come out much better than they would have otherwise. Remember, we can only see a teeny, tiny, microscopic amount of what is really going on and what is really going to best for us.

As I make an effort to shift my mindset to focus more on the eternal, I need to remember that "in all things God is working for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose . . . to be conformed to the likeness of his son." Romans 8:28-29. Though things may not be stellar, God is working for my ultimate good and that good is to do God's will as he conforms me to the likeness of his Son. I have been, and will continue to be "refined like silver in a furnace of clay" as "Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time." (Daniel 11:35) and while being refined isn't a whole lot of fun, I have already seen the benefits of time when I was "refined" in college. I can think of three very significant things that resulted from it, all of them positive. You see, if I adopt an eternal mindset I can have patience and I can bear through tough times knowing that God has my best interest in mind. Instead of hopelessness I will have hope. "⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:5 Along with this mindset, let us also keep in mind Romans 8:38 "³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

After reading my post about pride, a friend was kind enough to share with me this prayer that she wrote a few years back when she discovered in herself this troublesome companion and with her permission I share it with you now.

Deliver me, Jesus

From the desire of being loved . . .

From the desire of being honored . . .

From the desire of being praised . . .

From the desire of being preferred to others . . .

From the desire of being consulted . . .

From the desire of being approved . . .

From the fear of being humiliated . . .

From the fear of being despised . . .

From the fear of suffering rebuke . . .

From the fear of being forgotten . . .

From the fear of being wrong . . .

From the fear of being suspected . . .

And Jesus, grant me the grace to desire

That others might be loved more that I . . .

That others might be esteemed more than I . . .

That in the opinion of the world, others may increase as I decrease . . .

That others may be chosen and I set aside . . .

That others may be praised and I unnoticed . . .

That others may be preferred to me in everything . . .

That others may become holier than I, provided that I become as holy as I should.

 The words are so honest and cut right to my heart. I found that I felt I could pray and desire the first part in earnest, but when I got to the second half something within me started protesting.  "Do I really have to desire that for others?  Isn't the first part good enough and cover everything?"  The answer is no.  If I desire the first part with a pure and true heart then I desire the second, there is no difference.  If I am truly free from the desire of being loved, praised, esteemed, then I should not protest when others are over me.  The first part addresses pride (note: being self-conscious is a form of pride! Sneaky, eh?) and the second part is the application of Jesus' commandment in John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another."  Jesus clearly loved us more than he loved himself and we cannot love others with this selfless love unless we first pray the first half of this prayer and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, dispel our pride.  With pride it is impossible to achieve the second half.  It is impossible to be rid of pride without the help of God.  We must choose to let go of our pride and this is not a one-and-done deal, we need to make this choice daily, if not more often.  Can you imagine though if we kept Jesus' commandment and loved others as he loved us?  We'd all be Mother Teresa! We would fulfill the verse following this commandment, John 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Father God, help me to recognize my pride and cast it aside, teach me to truly love others, let your will be my will. Give me the daily strength to do this--may I not be tempted otherwise.  Forgive me of the times when I go my own way and help me to forgive others who have gone their own way and hurt me.  To you be the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory forever.  Amen.

The Root of Sin

Well, on the plus side I've identified what's been causing some problems in my life lately, but on the negative side, I cling to this very thing, it has been hard for me to get rid of, you see, it always comes back, or rather, I always bring it back. The name of my troublesome companion is Pride.

What is pride? Pride is an over-estimation of oneself . . . an undue confidence in one's accomplishments, skills, possessions, or position. Pride is easier identified in others than in oneself. Pride attributes glory to self. Christian thinkers Augustine and Aquinas considered pride to be the very essence of sin. Pride contaminates virtue and turns virtue into sin . . . Vaunting myself above others because I consider myself spiritually stronger is sin. We will always be able to find those weaker than ourselves. Pride in my perceived virtue will keep me from the repentance I desperately need. I cannot over-value myself without at the same time under-valuing others.

-The Deceit of Pride by Thomas R. Fletcher (emphasis added)

These last few weeks I've been a little off, not my normal happy, cheery self, and I didn't know why until now. It started when Scott had a busy rotation in medical school, it had him getting up at 4:30AM, getting home at 7:30PM, then studying for his test, and going to bed at 10:00PM. I knew Scott needed to study for his test so I figured when he was home I'd let him study and busy myself with other things, like starting my Expeditions in the Kitchen blog. My "selfless act" of letting him study turned into a very self-centered thing. I expected to pursue and do whatever I wanted during this time not be interrupted. I am ashamed to admit that sometimes there was resentment when Scott would "interrupt" what I was doing and want to spend time with me. Couldn't he wait a little bit? We were both busy and under stress, we were both thinking about ourselves (most likely myself more than he), and so we bickered when we had never bickered before.

PRIDE had reared its ugly head

Proverbs 13:10 fulfilled: "Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice."

The Knot (a wedding magazine and website) was having a competition for the best wedding of 2008. Of course, I had to submit ours. I worked all afternoon one Saturday sorting through our pictures, finding the ones that represented it best, writing paragraphs that described each picture, and when I went to submit it that night the web page had expired and everything was lost. What a waste of time. Still on Sunday I was at it again, this time it was successfully submitted, but it was still a waste of valuable time. Why didn't I spend this time with Scott whom I hadn't seen very much the week before? Or call my family, or a friend, or read God's word, or do something else that enriches life? Because I sought my glory. This was meaningless and fruitless. Why do I seek after such things?

PRIDE

Ecclesiastes 2:11 fulfilled:

"Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun."

And on it went. I thought about what I'm going to do when Scott starts residency. Get a job I suppose, but would I be able to find one? What would I do? More research? Something I like more? Go to school? Needless to say all this thinking, or worrying, focused me on myself even more. When one worries, or is anxious, it is very hard to be fully aware of others around you and their needs, instead your mind is occupied with your worries/troubles and thus you are focused only on yourself. On top of this, worrying is a desire for control, and when we seek control we are not trusting God, instead "we know best." This is pride.

Matthew 6:25-34

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

You see, what I have been doing these last few weeks may not be thought of right away as pride, but instead as selfishness. However, when I am downright honest with myself, my selfishness comes from my pride; from thinking I am better, more valuable, more important, more "worth it" than others. It is this pride/selfishness that is the opposite of the humility described in Philippians 2:3-4 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

I had heard before that pride is the root of all sin. I didn't believe it when I heard it but I now confess it to be true. When you are prideful you consider yourself to be #1. If you're number one, God is not. You are not seeking Him, you are not seeking to love others as He does, and so you botch God's plan (for the moment, praise God for mercy!), you bicker, you glorify/worship yourself, you cannot fully trust God, you judge others, you are a hypocrite. So take care, next time your mind is filled with thoughts of yourself, any thoughts, positive or negative, check for pride and get rid of it! Instead seek His truth and His will. I've found the greatest fulfillment comes from going after God's Kingdom.  Take it from me, life is better when not preoccupied with self!  

Other thoughts on pride taken from "The Deceit of Pride" by Thomas R. Fletcher

Pride deceives us in many ways. Pride deceives us into believing we are self-sufficient. Pride can deceive us into thinking we have a special line of communication to God because of our virtue, that we are somehow more special to God than others. Pride deceives us into believing the good we receive from God is somehow deserved. Pride deceives us into thinking we are better than others and in so doing makes us worse. Pride isolates us from those we look down upon. Pride hardens the heart. We lose compassion for others. Pride brings discontent. It makes us feel we lack the recognition we deserve. Pride brings contention--we can't all have first place, so we fight about it. Pride denies guilt, it rationalizes and justifies actions, but refuses to accept blame. Pride leads to presumption upon God. Ultimately pride will lead the Christian to disappointment with God. We go off on our own, assuming we are "God directed," only to have things fall apart. We then feel that God has let us down. No, we have let God down by going our own way while claiming His direction.

and

Pride is an abomination to God (Proverbs 16:5). It is abhorrent to Him for at least two reasons: one is the separation it brings between us and Himself and the second is the separation it brings between us and others. A proud Christian is of more service to Satan than to God. Such a one can keep others from Christ.

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Bible quoted from NIV translation on biblegateway.com