The Opposite of Love: The Watch Letter
"Pride is the legacy of fools."
Chief Apostle H.C. Gunn said this during one of the first radio broadcasts he did in 2018, titled “BE THANKFUL.”
Pride is more than being high-minded, hard-headed, and not wanting someone to know your business or faults.
Pride is:
Only thinking that what you want and need matters
Being self-indulgent/self-focused
Elevating your thoughts and opinions over God’s
Having disrespect/disregard for others and what they do/contribute
Giving the appearance of being or doing something that you’re not
Finding reasons to isolate yourself from others because you think little of them and too much of you
In other words, pride is a form of selfishness and, as Chief Apostle Gunn said during the message: Selfishness is the opposite of love.
Pride and selfishness are born of ingratitude a.k.a. a lack of appreciation.
THIS IS CRITICAL: If you can’t appreciate a person, you can’t love them.
It’s like getting a new car or home. If you don’t really appreciate it but want to have it for a vain reason, it will quickly grow old to you. You will start to complain or start coveting something else. This also applies to our relationships with God, our pastor, parents, spouses, siblings, saints, etc. If we don’t appreciate them, we quickly grow disinterested. We no longer find them valuable, but we keep them on standby until we find them useful again.
We were taught growing up that saying thank you is enough for showing appreciation. But how many times have we uttered words we don’t mean? It is easy to tell a child or adult to say thank you, but a grateful heart needs no coaching. A grateful heart will express and show appreciation in various ways.
Truly saying thank you to God is in our giving to him/others, praying, worshiping, fasting, obeying, studying the word, receiving the teaching/preaching, etc.
The lack of appreciation we have for God is evidenced in the way we treat the person he appointed to lead his flock. The children of Israel didn’t appreciate what God did for them, so they counted Moses as nothing. Our pastor hears the words thank you from people all the time, but very few show sincere appreciation such as calling to check on him, seeing what he and his family need, praying for him, encouraging him, not wasting his time/counseling, and testifying openly about how God uses him. His pastor appreciation is coming up in March, and it's always around that time that many people he helped go silent until they need him again.
A person who can’t show appreciation is always going to be the weakest link. The devil loves an ungrateful heart. It’s his open invitation.
So, often we want to portray ourselves as spiritually strong. But during the broadcast, Chief Apostle Gunn said: STINGINESS=WEAKNESS. IT SHOULDN'T HURT YOU TO GIVE! Giving is one of the easiest things we can do. And if it kills us to give, then we are too weak to even open the palms of our hands.
Chief Apostle Gunn showed us on the broadcast that:
A strong Christian always is exercising their giving muscle.
We should not be the kind of person that is only close to God and people when we want something.
A grateful heart openly remembers/acknowledges what someone did for them.
We should want to give because we remember that we have been given to.
One of the scriptures Chief Apostle Gunn noted was Psalm 136. David expressed his gratitude to God often and he did so by taking time to remember what God has already done.
Chief Apostle Gunn has taught us that one of the main reasons we fail to be grateful and show appreciation is because we are too full. We are full of self and pride. There is no room to hunger and thirst after righteousness, which ties into turning away from the love of money and the world and instead being grateful for every word that comes from the mouth of God; every grace and opportunity he gives us to serve and be with him; every moment he gives us to turn away from sin and the world; and every chance to do his will and be good to the household of faith.
Matthew 5:6: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
Catch up on the newest episode of FORREAL RADIO BROADCAST "Pure (Purity) Water...The Church" https://www.thebodyofchristinc.com/listen-in?wix-music-track-id=5394947356391913&wix-music-comp-id=comp-lcmqtfhu
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