Proverbs

13:7 A pretentious, showy life is an empty life; a plain and simple life is a full life.

Pretension comes in many forms. Most of us would take this verse and see it as those who buy, buy, buy. They have lots of toys, bling-bling, and all that stuff that is so much the world today. But pretension come be other things. Christians can be very pretentious. We like to make people think we are walking down the narrow path, that we a growing spiritually by spending time in the word, doing bible studies, blogging (oops), and so forth. Don't get me wrong, doing all those things is great, but doing them for the right reason is better. If we are doing them to earn points, to gain status, or earn our way into God's good graces, then they are pretentious. If we are doing them to get closer to Jesus, to show our love for Him by knowing Him, then they are more awesome than words can explain. I try to do things with the right intention, I fail often. Somehow, we all seem to get caught up in thinking by doing good things we ought to have good things in return. It does not work that way. God's is more concerned with our hearts and our character than he is with our comfort and our success. We can't earn anything with God, it is freely given. Knowledge is worthless without sincerity and love.



Toby Mac "Lose My Soul"