Feeling of accomplishment vs. pride

[Bob8102]

Yesterday, I again thought I really gave my life to Christ. But today, I have reason to wonder if I'm saved. The issue has to do with pride. Can a Christian have a good feeling of accomplishment because of something they did, without being prideful?

 

[David Lamb]

Yesterday, I again thought I really gave my life to Christ. But today, I have reason to wonder if I'm saved. The issue has to do with pride. Can a Christian have a good feeling of accomplishment because of something they did, without being prideful?

I would suggest that a good way to avoid pride in salvation is to concentrate on the fact that Christ gave His life on the cross to save you, not on you "giving your life to Christ," which, incidentally, is not a phrase we find in the bible.

 

[Bob8102]

I would suggest that a good way to avoid pride in salvation is to concentrate on the fact that Christ gave His life on the cross to save you, not on you "giving your life to Christ," which, incidentally, is not a phrase we find in the bible.

Thank you. But my question specifically is, If I accomplish something that, from the world's point of view, is of merit, then can I feel good about that accomplishment without being prideful?

 

[St_Worm2]

Hello Bob (@Bob8102), a Christian should be thankful to God for everything in this life, including our life, of course, both physically and (for believers) spiritually, for the health that we typically enjoy, including the strong body and/or mind that God has provided us with that make accomplishing good things possible, and even for the "good feeling of accomplishment" that we often experience over a job/task well done.

This attitude helps us be proud in Him and keep our focus where it always needs to be (on Him), whenever we remember to be thankful to Him for everything, that is, and it makes it pretty difficult for us to be puffed up with pride in ourselves, instead. Nevertheless, all of us focus on ourselves too much at times, but when we do so, & when we know that we've sinned in doing so, we (Christians) follow the Lord's command to confess our sins to Him so that we can be forgiven, cleansed and restored to full fellowship with Him (1 John 1:9)

The following are some short articles on the topic of pride that may interest you.

~Why is pride a sin?​

~What does the Bible say about pride? | GotQuestions.org​

~How can I overcome pride? | GotQuestions.org​

​

God bless you!!

--David
p.s. - I hope to return later with some additional thoughts, but I need to go for now

 

[Bob8102]

Hello Bob (@Bob8102), a Christian should be thankful to God for everything in this life, including our life, of course, both physically and (for believers) spiritually, for the health that we typically enjoy, including the strong body and/or mind that God has provided us with that make accomplishing good things possible, and even for the "good feeling of accomplishment" that we often experience over a job/task well done.

This attitude helps us be proud in Him and keep our focus where it always needs to be (on Him), whenever we remember to be thankful to Him for everything, that is, and it makes it pretty difficult for us to be puffed up with pride in ourselves, instead. Nevertheless, all of us focus on ourselves too much at times, but when we do so, & when we know that we've sinned in doing so, we (Christians) follow the Lord's command to confess our sins to Him so that we can be forgiven, cleansed and restored to full fellowship with Him (1 John 1:9)

The following are some short articles on the topic of pride that may interest you.

~Why is pride a sin?​

~What does the Bible say about pride? | GotQuestions.org​

~How can I overcome pride? | GotQuestions.org​

​

God bless you!!

--David
p.s. - I hope to return later with some additional thoughts, but I need to go for now

Thank you. I just read the third article and it is very good.

In a bible study I was at one time, the leader said that if you ask God to humble you, He will. I have been wary of asking God to humble me, because I know He will do such a THOROUGH job of it! In the movie, "Full Metal Jacket," a marine inductee (during the Vietnam war days) messed up badly in boot camp. The drill instructor confronted him, and one of the things the drill sergeant did was to say to him, "Strangle yourself." So the inductee placed his own hands on his own throat. The sergeant said, "No! Strangle yourself!" and placed his own hand in front of the inductee's throat. The inductee then leaned forward and placed his throat in the sergeant's hand. The sergeant then proceed to choke the inductee for a time, causing him much pain and suffering. I have thought, if you ask God to humble you, it would be like placing your throat in the drill sergeant's hand to let him choke you. Better to follow the biblical advice, 'humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up.'

Remembering Who God is and some of His characteristics should help with humility. There is a worship song that has the line, "I want to see You...To see You high and lifted up, shining in the light of Your glory..."

 

[David Lamb]

Thank you. But my question specifically is, If I accomplish something that, from the world's point of view, is of merit, then can I feel good about that accomplishment without being prideful?

You can feel extremely good because of what Christ has accomplished for you. But Christians have nothing to boast about, as the apostle Paul makes clear when writing to the Christians at Ephesus, and reminding them of all that God has done for them to be Christians:

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made [us] sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Eph 2:1-10 NKJV)

Grace is God's undeserved favour. Somebody (I don't know who) said GRACE is God's Riches At Christ's Expense.

Now of course, from the unbelieving world's point of view, becoming a Christian is something that a person accomplishes for themselves (by being good, by "going to church", by being sincere, etc.) But Jesus says that His followers are no longer of the world; they have new life in Him.

 

[Bob8102]

You can feel extremely good because of what Christ has accomplished for you. But Christians have nothing to boast about, as the apostle Paul makes clear when writing to the Christians at Ephesus, and reminding them of all that God has done for them to be Christians:

“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made [us] sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Eph 2:1-10 NKJV)

Grace is God's undeserved favour. Somebody (I don't know who) said GRACE is God's Riches At Christ's Expense.

Now of course, from the unbelieving world's point of view, becoming a Christian is something that a person accomplishes for themselves (by being good, by "going to church", by being sincere, etc.) But Jesus says that His followers are no longer of the world; they have new life in Him.

Thank you David. It is as if you are responding to a post or two of mine elsewhere today, under a thread about a guy seeking assurance of salvation. I appreciate your response to that; my post seems to have disappeared, or to have gotten lost in the crowd (there are 80+ responses to that guy's post). But first, let me get to the point of THIS post.

I have not been accomplishing any significant, worldly tasks, due to my dysfunction over my concerns about my salvation. But now, on and off thinking I am a Christian, I have started to move on some worldly tasks. One is as follows: I have contacted my county commission about a proposed way to make overnight shifts more humane for workers in 24-hour operations/organizations. The proposal is to split the overnight shift into two half-shifts, but pay and provide benefits for the workers the same as if they were working a full shift. This could help make overnight shift work desirable instead of loathed and unhealthy. Whether or not the commission acts on my suggestion (considering the increase in tax dollars necessary), I feel good about initially getting the ball rolling on that effort. However, today, I was in a quandary because of my tendency to be prideful over worldly achievements. It has seemed I cannot accomplish anything useful without going egotistical. So, that's why I started this thread.

But response to this thread has lead me to some good reading about dealing with the tendency toward pride. Keeping God and His glory in mind helps with that problem.

But as to salvation, I noted the following in another response to someone else's post today: Several years ago, I got baptized. I was basically sure of my salvation at the moment. After the dipping, a guy came up to me on the beach and asked me a question that I had been asked before: "If you were to die tonight and God were to ask you, 'Why should I let you into My heaven?', what would you say?" I said something to the effect of, 'I gave my life to Christ.' He responded, 'That's wonderful, but a proper response would be "because Jesus died for my sins." ' I have since understood that some Christians would reject any answer to that question that starts with "I" or "I did." They accept an answer that refers to what Christ did. But I have thought: Christ died for sins whether or not any particular individual is saved. The difference between a saved person and a lost person is not in what Christ did but in what the sinner did. The saved person has repented and believed the gospel: see Mark 1:15.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

Yesterday, I again thought I really gave my life to Christ. But today, I have reason to wonder if I'm saved. The issue has to do with pride. Can a Christian have a good feeling of accomplishment because of something they did, without being prideful?

Mico managing your every move or feeling is counter productive. It burdens a person to the point of doubting their salvation? Doubt is not the Way or the path towards sanctification. This is the real issue not the fact that you accomplished something and felt good about it. Let us reason. Our Father is not a killjoy!
As far as being prideful, it is a multifaceted human emotion. The rule of thumb for every Christian to follow is, if it is not loving, it is not from Him.
Blessings

 

[David Lamb]

Thank you David. It is as if you are responding to a post or two of mine elsewhere today, under a thread about a guy seeking assurance of salvation. I appreciate your response to that; my post seems to have disappeared, or to have gotten lost in the crowd (there are 80+ responses to that guy's post). But first, let me get to the point of THIS post.

I have not been accomplishing any significant, worldly tasks, due to my dysfunction over my concerns about my salvation. But now, on and off thinking I am a Christian, I have started to move on some worldly tasks. One is as follows: I have contacted my county commission about a proposed way to make overnight shifts more humane for workers in 24-hour operations/organizations. The proposal is to split the overnight shift into two half-shifts, but pay and provide benefits for the workers the same as if they were working a full shift. This could help make overnight shift work desirable instead of loathed and unhealthy. Whether or not the commission acts on my suggestion (considering the increase in tax dollars necessary), I feel good about initially getting the ball rolling on that effort. However, today, I was in a quandary because of my tendency to be prideful over worldly achievements. It has seemed I cannot accomplish anything useful without going egotistical. So, that's why I started this thread.

In that case, I am sorry for misunderstanding you. My only excuse is that your OP didn't give any of the details you have just given now, about humane shifts for workers. However, I think my answer would be similar, even so, because as Christians, we realise that we can only do good because God enables us.

But response to this thread has lead me to some good reading about dealing with the tendency toward pride. Keeping God and His glory in mind helps with that problem.

But as to salvation, I noted the following in another response to someone else's post today: Several years ago, I got baptized. I was basically sure of my salvation at the moment. After the dipping, a guy came up to me on the beach and asked me a question that I had been asked before: "If you were to die tonight and God were to ask you, 'Why should I let you into My heaven?', what would you say?" I said something to the effect of, 'I gave my life to Christ.' He responded, 'That's wonderful, but a proper response would be "because Jesus died for my sins." ' I have since understood that some Christians would reject any answer to that question that starts with "I" or "I did." They accept an answer that refers to what Christ did. But I have thought: Christ died for sins whether or not any particular individual is saved. The difference between a saved person and a lost person is not in what Christ did but in what the sinner did. The saved person has repented and believed the gospel: see Mark 1:15.

Regard your final thought, I would point to what the angel said to Joseph before Jesus was born:

“"And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins."” (Mt 1:21 NKJV)

Not, "He'll die on the cross to make salvation possible, whether or not any sinner is saved." And Paul wrote:

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” (1Ti 1:15 NKJV)

Thanks for your reply.

 

[timf]

Boasting might be more indicative of pride. A feeling of satisfaction for a completed project would be natural. However, this feeling usually fades with the busyness of new projects and daily activity. Constantly looking back towards past glories might also indicate pride.

 

[com7fy8]

Can a Christian have a good feeling of accomplishment because of something they did, without being prideful?

Yes. You can enjoy doing good things.

One way to see that you are acting in pride can be if you get upset and nasty when something interferes with what you are doing.

And then trust God to change you so you really are humble and enjoying while doing what God has you do.

But most of all you can be enjoying God and other children of God while you do what really God has you doing.

And be careful not to isolate yourself so your attention is mainly to what you are doing. It is good to do things in sharing with others so we can bless and enjoy one another while doing things.

 

[NBB]

I think how it works, is, that you can have pride in your accomplishments or other people, Paul wrote that he had pride in something he did.
The sin, is the pride in yourself, that says 'i am better, superior, etc'