I've just been thinking about the various emotions that we have. We all experience love, sadness, happiness, anger. They are what make us human. Oh, ya, and pride. I can be proud of a family member for making straight A's on her report card.
I guess I see pride and happiness as synonymous.
@Hiswillbedone -- why do you say that self-righteous pride is what Jesus was up against and that God has been fighting ever since the fall of mankind. Unless you're referring to the Pharisees when the one man was praying.
Jesus Christ was facing the cross on our behalf -- our sins.
God created us with emotions -- He created us Human. If He'd created us as robot, He'd have made us to love Him and everyone else on earth.
The serpent entered the picture in the garden of Eden -- he successfully deceived Eve -- by eating of the tree of the knowledge of both good and evil -- they Would eventually Die. Otherwise they would have lived forever. And Eve thought it would be neat to have all the knowledge in the world like God did. In her innocence she was curious as to what that would mean. so, yes, a true snare of the deceitfullness of Satan. But it was no surprise to God / Jesus Christ / the Holy Spirit. that's why the cross of Calvary was Also Planned. Ahead of time. And, 'we' still tend to follow satan instead of believing God's Word.
And, yes, 'we' would rather believe that 'we' do have the 'correct' view of Scripture -- but, 'we' do need to be 'teachable'. The basics of salvation is a Must to agree on. Jesus Christ Is the Son of God. It is Only by His Name that a person Is saved. No other name under heaven. No help/ action on our part is needed to help our salvation be complete. Jesus Christ did it all. His virgin birth, death, burial and His bodily Resurrection. And we accept - on a personal level - in order for it to make a difference in our lives. And to be able to spend eternity in the New Jerusalem / Heaven.
And, yes, our outward appearance / words tell everyone what's in our heart.
What you shared is true. Jesus did come and fight against all sins. At the same time, some seem to be more prominent in people then others, and the world has thourougly deceived people in thinking that pride is a good thing. This, however, is a trick of the devil that is propagated by the media to make Pride a virtue, rather than the vice that God thinks it is.
As Jesus taught, we must always examine teachers by their 'fruit'. I am not only talking about religious leaders, rather anybody that is put in a teaching role. If what someone teaches lead to good fruit (good actions), then the teachings is good. If it does not, then the teaching is bad. If we have an honest look at what pride in general has done to people, groups, countries, as a whole, then we can see the fruit of what pride produces.
Let's take national pride for example. This sort of pride gets people to believe that anybody that was born in a different part of this world are somehow inferior to those that weren't born in the country of your origin. This is one of the reasons that people feel justified in 'defending their country' and disobeying Jesus' teaching of loving our enemy, and blessing those that curse us. If we look at this fruit, then it is clear that pride in this scenario is bad, because the fruit is bad.
I know you mentioned the idea that you can be proud of your child getting straight A's on his report card as a 'happy' experience, but I don't think pride and happiness are the same thing at all. Again, judge the fruit.
Anyways, I can agree that we need to focus on the similarities rather than the differences between us, but, when something is obviously a lie yet it shared as truth, then we must to as Jesus and divide households with the sword of truth. Either someone will conform to the new truth that was shown to them by God, or they reject it and in tern reject the person that sent the messenger out.
I would ask you to question whether or not your message of salvation is the same one that Jesus taught to His followers. It is strange what is happening today, but people seem to think that what Jesus says is somehow inferior to other Bible writers (eg. Paul, Moses, Solomon), so when Jesus says one thing, and another Bible writer seems to contradict it, then people tend to side with the other Bible writer. It truly is strange, but seems to be popular. No wonder since we are living in the end times where deception will be at the most high in all of human history.
All this is to say that your method of salvation isn't compatible to what Jesus taught in the four gospels. Please, show me where Jesus taught all we have to do is accept Him into our hearts and we are saved, then I will believe you.
Before you go to John 3:16, I want you to question what the word 'believe' means, and ask yourself if it only needs to be a belief that a person existed? or if it needs to be in a belief in what said person said and did.
In peace