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I can be right about the way forward, but wrong in the way I point out the way. Has my confidence in Christ morphed into selfish arrogance? If others see me as narcissistic, they certainly don’t see me as Christ-like. Their perspective is not under my control, but it is under my influence, and thus responsibility.
If the fruit of the Spirit is found few and far between in my interactions with others, perhaps the Spirit has left me, and other spirits masquerade as virtues coiling around my soul as untreated serpentine cancers, ever growing, fed by my stubborn and defensive will, even when questioned by others.
In my self-proclaimed role as a vigorous defender of the omnipotent God I rarely find the LORD sheltering behind my firm defenses. Instead, he kindly sidles up alongside, whispering a reminder that he is the one who ‘opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ (1 Peter 5v5)
