Definition of Pride: Inappropriately valuing yourself in relation to others and to God

Almost universally everyone think that they are a "good" person. When we examine the claims of our own righteousness we will see that this kind of wisdom only exists in our own eyes.

The sin of lust has been mostly categorized with sexual immorality, but there are many other expressions of lust that go unaddressed. The inward curvature of lust's direction to serve "the self" is evident wherever sins are causing abuse to the desires that God originally made good.

Because of this broken world we will be wrestling against the forces of evil and against the retained depravity of our flesh. This resistance takes work. It takes effort. The enemy to our discipleship is the permission to be lazy - a spiritual sluggard.

The central Christian hope is the resurrection of Jesus that affirms our resurrection at the return of our Savior. Until that day, we are given a freedom in the gospel that enables us to face death without fear.

The Christian hope is resurrection. Until that day we are preserved in Christ by the love of God. This hope and love motivates us towards a work of preservation for those who belong to God.

The Christian life is one of repeatedly encountering the patience of God. Perhaps the one area of our lives that we are most reluctant to yield over to God's sovereign control is our death. Yet, even here, we will find God's grace and patience to reveal His glory.

The Christian life is lived out in a world that is saturated with pride, ego, and boasting. We can so easily become shaped by the attitudes around us that we forget to consider a submission to the will of God and remembering that we are only here for a short while.

When we view our lives as interconnected by our faith, we will see the importance of presenting and passing on our faith to our loved ones. If life is a relay race, then our greatest challenge is a clean transfer of the baton.

The impending reality of death is one that our world fears more than anything. But for the Apostle Peter it affords a unique opportunity to invest in the lives of his loved ones reminders for growing in the faith.