By: Pastor Jarren Rogers

“The Christian Gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself or less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.” – Tim Keller

He yells in my greatest moments. When all eyes are on me. The applause begins, slowly, then ruptures into a loud buzz. And yet, above it all, he yells.

I hear it all, clearly and confidently: “Good work,” “Good job,” “Outstanding!” “Couldn’t have done it better myself”. But, then again, I can’t hear them speaking. Their mouths are moving, but I can’t register their voices. Because he yells.

He yells when I’m told of the problems of others. “You’ve had it worse!” He yells when I view the accomplishments of someone else. “You could’ve done it better!”

When others gain something I do not have or receive something I think I deserve, he yells all the louder: “That should have been you!” “What so great about them anyway?” “What do they have that you don’t have?”

Even in my greatest defeats, he continues to yell. In fact, I think it’s in the midst of sorrow that he screams the loudest. “Why does this always happen to you?” “Why can’t you do anything right?” “It’s one thing after another!” “What have you done to deserve this?”

Even you. I’m sure you’ve heard his yell. You’ve heard him scream when you look in the mirror, when you mess up, when tragedy strikes. He’s always there, screaming.

His name? Pride. Always yelling, always pointing back to you, always drawing the attention back to yourself. It’s what he does best. It’s difficult to hear over him.

And yet there is another voice.

But, this one is a whisper. Almost silent. Maybe it is silent. Maybe no sound is made when He speaks. But there is a voice. His voice is different. Rather than scream above the noise, He meets you in the silence. Rather than conversing in public, He prefers to talk when you’re without distraction.

What does He say?  He whispers: “I love you,” “I care about you,” “I’m here for you,” “I died for you,” “I value you,” “I want to use you.”

His voice is sweet to the ear. Like a lost child in search of his mother’s voice, we yearn to hear our Father’s call. It is in His presence that Pride diminishes and Praise steps up in his place.

We long to hear His whisper and need His help to drown out the yell of Pride.

Lord, tune us to your voice.