10 Indicators of Arrogance

G. Gordon Liddy, a Watergate conspirator, spoke these words after his release from prison in 1977: “I have found within myself all I need and all I ever shall need. I am a man of great faith, but my faith is in G. Gordon Liddy. I have never failed me.”

Holy cow! Isn’t that the second craziest thing you’ve heard today? I don’t think I could stomach being around Gordon very long. How in the world can anybody be that self-absorbed?

Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it happens all the time. And I know most of us think narcissism is a new thing, but truthfully it’s an age-old problem. Listen to this: “But Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him…” (2 Chronicles 32:25). Hezekiah was a king back in the Old Testament. He was good and godly and there was no other king like him. At one point he was about to die, so he prayed, and God gave him an extra 15 years of life. But rather than being appreciative, he became arrogant.

So how does a good, godly king blow it like Hezekiah did? I don’t really know. But what I do know is this: pride is a creeping vine called “me, myself, and I.” And if not rooted out right away, this creeping vine can spread and take over our good and godly character. Just ask Hezekiah. And Solomon. And David. And the Pharisees. And the Disciples.

As I ponder the arrogant people in Scripture, they’re not at all different than the self-absorbed people I know today. As they say, “it takes one to know one.” So I’m ashamed to say I see myself all over these character traits. As I reflect on the issue of pride, I’ve come up with 10 indicators of arrogance. Ten characteristics that indicate we might have a slight issue with arrogance. Check it out:

10 Indicators of Arrogance:

• Deceived into believing we are “flawless” or not as flawed as others
• Trusting in our own strength, knowledge, talents, skills, etc.
• Stubborn, rebellious, and unwilling to submit to authority
• Ungrateful for the kindness, grace, and/or mercy shown to us
• Blind to our own faults and/or to the needs of others
• An entitlement attitude which insists we deserve better, deserve more, etc.
• Comparing ourselves to other people and looking for opportunities to claim greater importance
• Wanting our agenda to prevail over others’ (…or even God’s)
• Inconveniencing others for the sake of our own convenience
• Life is about us and our glory, not God and His glory

Do these things describe people you know? Most assuredly they do.

Do they describe you? I know…you don’t want to answer that.

Hezekiah was a good and godly king, but for a season got caught up in a vine of pride. The cruddy thing is that we’re all guilty just like him. We all have a pride issue. And if we have a pride issue, we have a sin issue. And if we have a sin issue, we need a Savior.

Though God detests the proud of heart (Proverbs 16:5), He loves us too much too leave us there.

Hezekiah humbled himself and repented of his arrogance (2 Chronicles 32:26). God was merciful and forgave him. The same God who loved and forgave Hezekiah offers us forgiveness as well. And though we may not be kings, by God’s grace, we can continue our journey onward to being good and godly in the every day.

 

 

I’VE FINALLY FOUND AWESOME!

He’s six years old. Blond hair, blue eyes, and very cute. He used to be shy and cower down any time I spoke to him. But not anymore.

I was sitting on my deck one evening last week. All of a sudden I heard his little, but very fired up voice, “Beth, Beth, Beth…guess what…I went to Power Play today and it was awesome!”

I could hear him, but couldn’t see him. But I responded anyway, “Wow! How cool!”

He kept going…“And you know what else? They had bumper cars in there, and they were so awesome!”

By this time I was scanning his back yard to find him because this little guy was so amped I wanted to engage him in further conversation. Finally I located him…up in the tree. So I walked over to the fence to get more of the story.

“And you know what else?”

“No. What?”

“My dad and me rode the bumper cars together and it was even more awesome!”

“You did? That’s so cool!” (At this point, I’m noticing a theme.)

“Yeah…yeah…yeah…and Beth, Beth, Beth…I went to the computer lab today at summer school and it was awesome!”

“Wow! You’ve had a full day, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, but Beth, Beth…you know what else? They have awesome video games in the computer lab and I even know how to work ‘em. And we got to play today, and it was the most awesome-est of anything awesome!”

By this time the “awesome” energy that exuded from my little six year old neighbor, had come down off the tree, jumped the fence, and entered me. I was fired up and I hadn’t even done anything.

I cherished this conversation I had last week. It reminded me that life is fun. It reminded me that life is full of adventure. It reminded me that life–when looking through fresh, young, energized eyes–is full of potential for excitement and joy.

I need to bottle up what Gage was giving away freely that day. I need to have that kind of joy, excitement, and energy more often. I’d probably be worn slick, but hey…you only live once.

I was busy working on my other blog today (over at Clutter Interrupted) when the doorbell rang. It was Gage. He said, “Beth, can you help me?”

“Sure,” I said, as I followed him out to my yard. He led me to a tree and pointed out several dried up cicada shells which were located way out of his reach.

“Can you reach all those for me?”

“Yep. I’ll be glad to. These are really cool. What are you going to do with all of them?”

“I’m going to put them in a bottle.”

Gage can bottle up as many cicada shells as he’d like. I’m going to bottle up some of that fresh, innocent, excitement and energy. And guess what? It’s gonna be awesome!

 

 

 

HERE’S TO LIFE’S LITTLE INCONVENIENCES

I have tennis elbow. I don’t like tennis elbow. I don’t want tennis elbow. I don’t even play tennis.

It’s just one of life’s many “inconveniences.” Oh joy!

Can you relate? Do you have any inconveniences in your life? They’re fun, aren’t they? That was a joke. No, they’re not fun at all. They’re a pain, an irritation, a frustration…and well…an inconvenience.

If you think this blog is going to contain the “7 Steps to Overcoming Inconveniences” you’re way off. I couldn’t think of 7 steps. I don’t even have one step. I have inconveniences, remember?

On the rare occasion that I’m in my car in a torrential downpour, the little space between the sun roof and passenger’s side door leaks. But the other 361½  days of the year, it’s fine. Do I get my panties in a wad over it? No, but it is an inconvenience.

The igniter switches on all four burners of my gas stove went out about a month after the warranty expired. So how do we light our gas stove? We light them the old fashion way…or semi-old fashion way. Instead of using matches we use one of those long lighters. This little inconvenience I have actually gotten used to.

My neck hurts, my jaw is messed up, I’m pretty sure I have arthritis flaring up in various parts of my body, and the root canal that I had two years ago has decided to wake up after a long siesta. Nope, not fun at all. Just more things to add to my list of life’s little inconveniences.

I know what you’re thinking. “Beth…just get over yourself and fix all of these little inconveniences in your life.”

Yeah, I guess I could. But I don’t feel like they’re worth spending the money on. Besides, just as soon as I’d fix these, I’d grow a whole new crop of inconveniences.

Maybe there’s something to them. Maybe these little inconveniences are God’s way of reminding us of the bigger, better things in life. Maybe these little inconveniences are God’s way of keeping us slightly more humble than we’d normally be.

G.K. Chesterton once said, “An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered.”

Hmm…If this is true, I need to change my perspective.

If this is true, let the adventures begin. 🙂

How do you handle life’s little inconveniences?