His Instructions Matter

“And the Lord commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” (Genesis 2:17)

After God created everything, He put Adam in the Garden of Eden to “serve” and “maintain” the garden. Man’s first responsibilities given from the mouth of God was to thrive where God put him by serving and maintaining the garden.

So here it is men, serve and maintain where God has placed you. Alright! So what does this have to do with pride?

When we trace back the steps of pride in the human race we must carefully explore the first few chapters of Genesis. In Genesis 3, Satan tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God’s original command given in Genesis 2:17. Satan’s primary tactics are always to cause us to devalue, minimize, doubt and ignore the value of what God has to say. Adam knew the truth but didn’t value the truth enough to defend his wife against the lies of the enemy.

What can we learn? We can learn something here as it relates to the sin of pride. Ignoring the first command that God gave Adam led to the downfall of the human race (Romans 3:23). God gave Adam specific instructions that would have helped and guided him in obeying his Creator and stewarding his responsibilities but what did Adam do? Adam failed to value what God said to him.

I think one of the important steps in our victory over pride is taking heed to what God says to us through His Word.

As a man, when you were growing up, did anyone engrain within you that God’s Word mattered? I think personally as men, we grow up full of pride because we are all sinners but also because no one says, “God’s instructions matter.” So what do we do? We become instructors of ourselves and live based on our own desires instead of according to what God says.

Our first step towards humility is valuing everything that God says to us in His Word. If you own a copy of the Scriptures, I encourage you to read them. Don’t be afraid of them because they are meant to help, guide and protect you. Listen to me, pride says, “I don’t need what God has to say… I only need myself.” Humility says, “I desperately need everything God says to me in His Word.”

Over the next few days, dive into the Scriptures and demonstrate your need for HIM. Ask God, “Lord, help me live today, dependent on you and everything you have to say to me through your Word.”