Breaking The Chains Of Addiction

Attitudes That Keep You Prisoner

Self-Righteousness-Prideful

Prayer Of  The Pharisee

Luke 18:10-20
10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

First, the Pharisee went to the temple to pray. He must be seeking the Lord, and he seems to be a prayerful man, right? Not only that, the Pharisee thanked God for the good things he had done. That’s good, too. The Pharisee didn’t take credit for his own good deeds. He said: God, I thank you!
So what’s the problem? The self-righteousness that seeps out from this man’s actions and words is evident in the other aspects of his prayer.
  • He was standing in the temple, probably in front of others, to be seen by them.
  • He expresses gratitude to God but not because God is so awesome and holy, but because he sees himself as set apart from others. (The Pharisee mentions sinners that are “greedy, unrighteous, adulterers,” and then he mentions the tax collector in the same temple complex with him: “or even like this tax collector.”) The Pharisee may not be self-aware, but he sure is aware of the people around him. He isn’t truly looking up to God in prayer because he is looking down on the people next to him. Were he truly aware of the awesome majesty of God, he would see himself on the same level as the tax collector—a lowly sinner in need of mercy.
  • The Pharisee mentions his fasting practices and his tithing.
  • Note the repetition of “I” throughout the prayer. The Pharisee may be praying to God, but he is praying about himself.
If someone had accused the Pharisee of being self-righteous in that moment, how do you think he would have responded? He would have denied the charge. He would not have recognized that attitude in himself. See how easy it is to be deceived?
Self-Righteous Disguises
All of this should lead us to wonder: what are some ways we can be self-righteous without knowing it? After all, self-righteousness wears many disguises. The scary thing about self-righteousness is that we usually don’t recognize it in ourselves. We think because of our religious practices that we are okay with God. We think because of how we pray that we are trusting in him, not in ourselves. We think because of how we live that we are doing better than the people around us. Self-righteousness stinks; unfortunately, we are the last to smell it on ourselves.

Self-Justification
This story Jesus tells about the Pharisee shows us just how easy it is to fall into the trap of self-justification. We parade all of our good works before God and before others, thinking that these works will increase our stature. And when we’re called on it, instead of recognizing our self-righteous spirit, we recoil from the accusation and justify ourselves. I’m thankful to God for my good heart! I’m obviously religious! Can’t you see that I’m doing better than other people around me? Do you want to say that my religious observance doesn’t matter?
But even when our self-righteousness is cloaked in words of gratitude or manifested in actions that, on the surface, appear to be done out of a desire for God’s glory, self-righteousness is still self-justification. It is misplaced trust that leads to misplaced judgment. President George W. Bush once said, “We judge others by their actions and ourselves by our intentions.” We judge people around us more harshly than we would dare judge ourselves.

Pride vs. Humility
The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector gives us a vivid portrait of pride vs. humility, of justification by works vs. justification by faith. 

Pride preaches merit; humility pleads for compassion. Pride negotiates as an equal; humility approaches in need. Pride separates by putting down others.

Humility identifies with others, recognizing we all have the same need. Pride destroys through its alienating self-service; humility opens doors with its power to sympathize with the struggle we share. Pride turns up its nose; humility offers an open and lifted-up hand.”
Matthew 7:1-5
1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
If you identified the negative attitude of Self-Righteousness and Pride in your DMI today, take some time to complete this devotional. Read each passage beginning with
(Luke 18:10-20).
Meditate on this verse (s). Continue with the next passage until all passages are completed. It is imperative that you allow the Holy Spirit to confront us with our sinful attitudes and character flaws, and that we take responsibility for our behavior without making excuses. This requires looking honestly at the intentions of our hearts if we are to allow God to work in these areas. Ask the Lord to reveal the truth behind these attitudes. Our hearts are deceitful and we will try to hide the true reasons behind these behaviors. Be sure to write down any revelations of the Holy Spirit, especially where they come from.