CLOSET in Heart #5

OK, well, now that we (God & I) have went over the SELFISHNESS, SURRENDER, PRAY issue, He's moved onto the lovely topic of PRIDE that resides in the closet in my heart.  No, again, not a pretty object..... I found myself this morning being very smug & judgmental....sort of a looking down my nose with the attitude of "Great! how stupid and nonsensical can human beings be?" Man, did the Holy Spirit grab me quick!!!  I immediately thought, "is this selfishness that God's been working on me with?"  I didn't think so as that term didn't quite fit, so I continued to think....what would this thing be called?  Jealousy? No.  Anger? Not exactly but I was definitely irked by the lack of intelligence and the overwhelming urge to smack the person on TV.  Yes, THANK GOD the person was on TV! LOL  But still, what IS THIS EMOTION/ATTITUDE I was having? I kept going thru all the emotions I could think of and especially the ones God had shown me were the fruits of SELFISHNESS....that's when it hit me.....SELFISHNESS breeds PRIDE which is one of the things God had shown my in my closet. I was so struck as to what this meant!!!  How can I help anyone if I am condemning them, judging them, being PRIDEFUL thinking I am better than they are simply because they are different and not doing as I would do?  KEEP IN MIND GOD HAS CALLED ME INTO MINISTERIAL CHRISTIAN COUNSELING!  I understand NOW why that has been slowed down in achieving my accreditation as HOW CAN I HELP ANYONE WHEN I'M NOT FIXED MYSELF? God's good isn't He? This is called my Preparation time so I can truly do as He has called me to do.  Oh, make no mistake, I am not a cruel or callous person who does not sympathize & understand.  MY FLAW is stupid people.  I HAVE -0- TOLERANCE FOR STUPIDITY AND THIS IS ANOTHER REASON I HATE THE AREA I LIVE!  Now, I am not talking ignorance.....ignorance is "I don't understand, teach me."  Stupidity is "I'm dumb, glad I'm dumb and no just fix my problem and take care of me."  Understand the difference? ANYWAY, still, there are going to be people who do not want TRUE HELP that come to me for MINISTERIAL CHRISTIAN COUNSELING, they just want someone to dump on and fix it for them.  So, God has shown me, this is PRIDE on my part and must be gotten rid of in my heart and attitude. I need to look at people as you can either help them or not.  IF NOT, to let it go with out it bearing bad attitude within me and my heart. Also, to just KINDLY tell that person, "I'm sorry, I can't help you if you will not help yourself."  This is confronting and acting in love not PRIDE. Still, I am watching my words more closely to stay away from saying things that would plant the seeds of SELFISHNESS and NEGATIVITY thereby breeding more PRIDE, etc. Look what God's word has to say about PRIDE (the opposite of pride is HUMILITY): 2Ch 32:26 Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of Jehovah came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.   Ps 73:6 Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck; Violence covereth them as a garment.  Pr 8:13 The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil: Pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, And the perverse mouth, do I hate.  Pr 11:2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame; But with the lowly is wisdom.  Pr 13:10 By pride cometh only contention; But with the well-advised is wisdom.   Pr 29:23 A man's pride shall bring him low; But he that is of a lowly spirit shall obtain honor.  Who wants what PRIDE has to offer?  Not me.  God loves me no matter what, but He loves me too much to let me continue on the wrong pathway without correction. This, I think, shall be harder for me than to watch my tongue and find something good about the area I live.  I keep praying now for God to let me see this area as He does and send those who need my help into my path with the wisdom to know how to help.   YEP, gotta get rid of Pride and really strive for humility.  Humility, as you can see above in the last verse obtains honor.  I'm sure the honor is from God as human beings generally consider humility a sign of weakness.  HOWEVER, in reality, humility = great strength under control .   Jesus was humble and let's be honest, He didn't have to take anything that was dished out to Him.  On the cross He could have called the angels in Heaven down to spare Him, yet, He didn't. Is this not the greatest sign of great strength under control? OK, my peeps.  Stay tuned.  I can't say I am enjoying the lessons God is showing me about myself as the image in the mirror isn't pretty.  But, you can't wipe the dirt off your face if you are never shown it is there.  For that I AM thankful for the good kind of pain. Hugs & best wishes, my peeps!