Pride

Prayer is humble because when we pray, we are saying that God is merciful and mighty, that He is wise and sovereign, and that He knows far better than us what is best for us.

What’s the heart issue behind slander and gossip? The narcissistic duo of self-love and self-promotion. When we traffic in slander and gossip, we tear others down and build ourselves up.

Like a good doctor, pastors must strive to present difficult truths in a clear, kind, compassionate manner. May we guard against our tendency to allow the tone of our message from hindering the truth from being heard.

Being liked is the currency of our social relationships, seen in everything from the unspoken gravitation toward one person over another at a party to the digitized tokens of attention we exchange on social media.

There is far more at stake with the issue of self-promotion than whether you should use postcards or social media to tell people about your ministry. A heart bent on self-promotion will keep a person from believing in Jesus for salvation.

One of the best decisions I have ever made for the benefit of my family and ministry has been to commit to a day off every week.

We all hold systems of theology that are prone to particular doctrinal deficiencies.

Self-promotion is out of place for servants of Christ, who often turned down opportunities for self-promotion for the sake of his mission.

Annoyance is not an attribute someone can possess; it’s a response we have.

Pride robs God of his glory because it delights in self-glory. That’s why seminary is so dangerous.

The church is not a platform to serve a pastor’s visionary ideals, social stature, or emotional well-being. The church is the blood-bought property of God. For a pastor to treat the people as his platform is an act of treasonous theft, stealing for himself that which Christ our great high priest has purchased at the cost of his own blood.