Spiritual Pride

And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me – to keep me from exalting myself!   2 Corinthians 12:7

Exalting Myself – Once we realize that Paul’s thorn in the flesh is God’s deterrent to ego enhancement, we have a different view of spiritual awareness.  Drawing close to God comes with a price.  The fact that it is a price well worth paying does not diminish the impact it has on our lives.  If we are going to be introduced to the hidden mysteries and the glorious revelations of the God of all creation, it is going to cost our flesh.  The cost is not a payment for the privilege.  It is a protection against pride.  Even in the midst of magnificent divinity, human beings are more than capable of converting glory to God into vanity for men. 

Did you need another example from Scripture?  Think about Peter’s blurted response on the mount of transfiguration.  Or Abram’s solution to famine (after God’s promise).  Or you might reflect on your own life.  Was there a time when God called you near, when He opened the window of heaven for you to see something wonderful, and you enjoyed it so that it filled you with the attitude of special privilege?  Did you walk away from that night of ecstasy with humility or hubris?  Yes, God showed you something sweet.  Did you turn it into something arrogant?

When God reveals, He takes enormous risk.  Everything divine can be co-opted by the enemy.  That is the fundamental motif of sin.  Take what God gives and turn it into praise for the receiver instead of the giver.  Sin begins with the thought, “I am special,” even if that thought starts in the presence of the divine. 

Pride is an abomination.  The Greek word huperairomai (literally, to lift above) is a present passive.   Now that’s interesting.  The suggestion in the passive tense is that arrogance is done to me.  I am the victim of arrogance.  Sin, residing in my natural self, takes hold of the opportunity to make an ego case out of my encounter with the living God and attempts to convert glory to God into glorification of self.   In Hebrew, Paul would have used the word rum, the first abomination listed in Proverbs 6:16.  God will do what is necessary to prevent His faithful from falling victim to this inner attacker.

Thank God for thorns.  They are abominable sin preventions.