“Take care lest you forget the LORD your God.” Deuteronomy 8:11
When you experience the blessing of the Lord, the second thing that can happen is that you forget the Lord. That’s the circle of pride, and it will have a very different effect in your life:
- You forget the Lord: To forget the Lord doesn’t mean you forget that He exists. It means that you no longer have Him in mind. You lose sight of His hand in the events of your life. If this happens to you, notice what happens next.
- You experience God’s blessing: “When your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied…” (8:13). God gives material blessings to those who forget Him and to those who fear Him. He causes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on those who hate Him as much as on those who love Him.
- Your heart becomes proud: “Then your heart be lifted up” (8:14). If you forget the Lord, His blessing will lead you to pride. You will take the credit yourself and that will intensify your forgetting of the Lord. Praise leads you back to the Lord because your eye is on Him. Pride leads you away from the Lord because your eye is on yourself.
- You say to yourself, “I have done this!”: “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth’” (8:17). This is the subtle test of success, and it is the great danger that lurks in every blessing: We think it comes from our own hand, we become proud, and we forget the Lord.
Can you identify a season when you experienced the circle of pride?
