I have seen myself in that place when I act self-righteously, and the moment I realize that I was just being self-righteous, I laugh at myself because it reminds me of the story that Jesus Christ told of the Pharisee and the tax collector. They both went to pray to God, but the Pharisee was very confident that he had done everything right while the tax collector was nothing compared to him. He didn’t see the need to reverence God because he thought he had met all the qualities that God asked of him. But there was the tax collector, who couldn’t even raise his head but bowed down to God and asked for mercy. At the end of the story, Jesus told us that the tax collector was the one who was justified.
The more I think about this story, the more I’m tempted to think that I won’t be anything like the Pharisee until I find myself acting self-righteous again. It’s easy to think that because I’m not the one who was in the Pharisee’s place, I won’t have prayed that way, but I know that I have done even worse than that in those times when I had the opportunity to. It’s so sweet to tell people of how well I’m doing at something good, but then that only ends up feeding my ego and makes me think that it was by my strength, my ability, my wisdom that I was able to pull something that huge.
I fail to acknowledge God in all of it because I believe I was the one that did my best and God just did the rest. You know, the truth is that there are millions of people out there who are doing their best but still they don’t get as much favor as we do. At that point, it is easy for us to think that they probably didn’t really do their best as they claimed, but hey, that could be their own time of temptation—a time God is using to build and prepare them for something even bigger.
As we know, we all have our time, and delay is never denial. Because we are doing better than the other person, that doesn’t give us the right to think we are better than them in any way. The Bible advises us to esteem others above ourselves, but that’s where it gets twisted because most people will never choose to do that. We see our own hard work, and we praise ourselves for it. I mean, we don’t need anyone to tell us we are doing well; we will tell ourselves that. But hey, just be careful while you are at it because at the end of that story that Jesus Christ told, He said that those who exalt themselves, He will humble, and those who humble themselves, He will exalt.
Trust me, you don’t want to be humbled by God. No matter what it is that I have achieved over my few years of existence, it was God that made it possible. I was and I’m only a vessel. In fact, I’m so privileged to be chosen to be His vessel to be where I am now, and I don’t have any right to take the glory for myself. My achievements get in my head most times, but I hope after writing this, I’m reminded of my place in all of it. Of course, I’ll carry myself as a vessel of honor but give glory to whom it’s due.
The little moral lesson is that self-righteousness is unrighteousness before God. You don’t define yourself by comparing yourself with others; you define yourself by what your Creator has made you for.
Thank you for reading through. 💜