Pride! Watch out I am on my soapbox again!

Pride! That words shivers through my body when I say it. It is something that I have struggled with and it is something that most people struggle with. In fact I will go out on a limb and say that I think every person struggles with it. Pride for your school is good, pride in your soul is another thing. The worst thing about pride is it hides inside where you can't see it and when it does show up, it rarely comes out without doing vast amount of damage. To you to others and to your relationship with God. How can we follow in Christ's footsteps when we have pride in our hearts? Well Christ is the key to evicting pride out of your life.
The biggest place pride is evident to me is when I talk about Celebrate Recovery. Oh you go out and hang with those people? No one says that to my face, but sometimes it is evident on their face. When I first heard about Celebrate Recovery I thought things like: I don't have any problems like that!  Isn't that for addicts? I am too busy! On and on excuses! Please don't get me wrong, I am not judging anyone out there, whether they go to CR or not. But I want to explain how CR opened my eyes to a whole new side of God's love. I want everyone to feel that love and acceptance that I do when I go there. I want everyone to know how good it can feel to hang out with other believers despite their background. I want everyone to cry when they hear the testimonies of people who have been through hell on earth and have not only survived but have triumphed because of God's grace. I want everyone to see what being on the otherside of the fence looks like. How ex convicts are reaching others still in prison. How people who have been addicted are now helping others stay sober. How those who have grieved for years are seeing the Son shine again and are experiencing joy. How people that have been angry and bitter for a long time feel the freedom of forgiveness. And how those who struggle with pride are brought down to their knees in humility in the presence of God's grace. His loving grace! That is how I feel when I am there. I cry, I laugh, I share, I open up, I recieve, every time! Don't you want to feel like that?
Did you know that Jesus held recovery meetings all the time? He was the one eating with the sinners. He was washing the feet of some prideful people. He ate with people who were unbearable to others. He touched the lepers. Oh to be in His presence! What a feeling it must have been. But i feel like I am with Him when I am there. I have been to many churches and I have felt like that many times. but sometimes that feeling can be drowned out by all the rules and regulations. By all the standards you hold yourself and others too. By expectations! What do you expect out of church? What do you expect out of God? What do you expect from your family? From your job? From your friends? From yourself? What happens when these expectations are not met? Your reactions to life are a good compass to see how you are doing spiritually. Especially for those stubborn hard to see sins. Sloth, gluttony, envy, pride, anger, wrath, lust. Those aren't as evident as some of the sins we hold others accountable to. Murder, stealing, homosexuality, adultery, pornography. The world is very judgemental to those with "the big sins", but it is accepting and forgiving for those "little sins". Well God sees all sins as the same. And we should too. All sins keep us from God. From feeling His love as deep, from hearing His voice as loud, and from doing His will as well as we were meant to. But God also gave us a way to be free from our sins. I have found that any hurt, habit or hang up can be overcome with God! And Celebrate Recovery is one of the places that can help you do that. It is also a way you can use your God given talents and share your story to help others. Our job is to spread the good news to others. This is so easy to do when you are on God's path. Is Celebrate Recovery for you? I hope so. I love you so much and I would love for us to walk this path together!