Self Righteousness

Self-righteousness is defined as being smugly proud of one's own opinion and intolerant of others. What Job repented of was his misunderstanding of God.

On the heels of self-deception and self-justification often comes self-righteousness. This obstacle to overcoming occurs when we set our own standards rather than God's.

Self-righteousness lies at the root of many other sins. Because we are self-centered, self-righteousness will follow as surely as water runs downhill.

The story of Job reveals a man whom God forced to see himself as he really was, and his true self-image paved the way to a leap forward in spiritual growth.

Martin Collins focuses on the perilous times before the coming of Christ, when people would be consumed by narcissistic self-love. Paul felt it necessary to bolster the reticent Timothy to take bold action to fight for the truth. We face the same kind of p. . .

The two men who go to the Temple to pray contrast in character, belief, and self-examination. The contrast shows how to be justified before God.

God's forgiveness of us is directly tied to our forgiveness of those who have sinned against us! We must reciprocate God's forgiveness by forgiving others.

Richard Ritenbaugh introduces his topic of covering sins by reflecting on the illegal trial of Jesus, in which false witnesses and false accusations were trumped up by the presumptuous Jewish religious leaders against the very Son of God. The Pharisees and. . .

The Pharisees were in the office or seat of Moses. Jesus taught His followers to follow their words (pertaining to the Law of God), but not their personal examples.

Martin Collins, acknowledging that the expression "woe" (suggesting agony, despair, and grave calamity) gets our immediate attention, reminds us that there is nothing new under the sun. Everything, including fashion, thought, and evil endlessly r. . .

Richard Ritenbaugh continues his exposition on the Pharisees, a group seemingly starting off on the right track under Ezra, but getting hopelessly sidetracked over the years, ultimately placing impossible burdens on the people they supposedly served. These. . .

The hallmark of Christian character is humility, which comes about only when one sees himself in comparison to God. Pride makes distorted comparisons.

Jesus warned of three varieties of leaven that we must guard against, staying aware of the pitfalls that will pull us down and corrupt us.

Our human nature is pure vanity with a heart that is desperately deceitful and wicked, motivated by self-centeredness, a deadly combination for producing sin.

Many 'church of God' organizations claim to be part of—or even the only—church of God. The Bible reveals specific characteristics of God's church.

Richard Ritenbaugh analyzes Jesus unambiguous, scathing indictment of the Pharisees in Matthew 23. Using abundant sarcasm, Jesus accuses them of presumptuously arrogating to themselves authority and prerogatives they had no title to. Although the Pharisees. . .

Two tests to reveal the presence of pride are the way we treat others (especially our own family) and the way we receive instruction or correction.

Ecclesiastes 7 contains a paradox: wickedness appears to be rewarded and righteousness seems to bring trouble. We must be careful in how we respond to this.

Martin Collins concludes his series on the three illustrations that comprise one long parable in Luke 15. In this part, he explains what is known as the Parable of the Prodigal (or Lost) Son.

John Ritenbaugh reiterates that not only should forgiveness be a daily activity, but that in order to be meek, we have to have an intimate relationship with God, accepting God's sovereignty in our lives. Pride, a product of self-centered judgment, destroys. . .

Pride is the basis of resisting God, while humility is the key to a relationship with Him. We recognize it in others but we seldom see it in ourselves.

Because of their different attitudes, people react to God's calling differently. The Parable of the Two Sons explains that one's ultimate obedience to God is the one that really matters!

Self-righteous people tend to trust in their own heart, be wise in their own eyes, justify themselves, despise or disregard others, and judge or condemn others.

Fasting puts us in a proper humble and contrite frame of mind, allowing God to respond to us, freeing us from our burdens and guiding us into His Kingdom.

John Ritenbaugh, using the term "malignant narcissism" (from M. Scott Peck's book "People Of The Lie") to describe the blind Laodicean pride which denies our inherent sinfulness and imperfection by means of clever self-decptive quibblin. . .

John Ritenbaugh reiterates that working out our salvation does not mean working for salvation, but instead making what we believe operational. God, through His Spirit gives us the power both to will and to do. Paul admonishes the Philippians that nothing b. . .