There is nothing like a good Sunday morning message to get me to take a long look in the mirror. Sometimes conviction comes in unexpected places.

The scripture on Sunday revolved around this beautiful story of a woman poor perfume over Jesus’ feet in gratitude.

36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” (Luke 7:36-39 NIV)

Pastor spoke convincingly about the freedom we have in Christ, and how this woman’s chains had been broken. The whole message centered around being set free from shame. He talked briefly about the Pharisee in the story and tried to illustrate his attitude. He tied all back to the woman who had been set free.

I stayed stuck on the Pharisee. I have experienced the freedom that the woman at Jesus’ feet was so grateful for, but now it was time for another long look in the mirror. I have become a Pharisee. There are places in my life where harsh and unfair judgement comes before grace. I’m not proud of this. Those moments of conviction, I believe are from God trying to refine my character to be more like His. Clearly, I still have a lot of work to do.

At the root of those harsh judments is pride, selfish pride. The kind of pride that allows me to think that I am better than someone else. Pride and I go way back. It has been a long struggle.

How about you? Is it time for you to take a long look in the mirror? Is God trying to convict you of something? Is there an area of your life that’s ready for change? You might not feel ready for the change, but I bet God is ready. Just like last week, keep your eyes on Him. Pride might still be an issue for me, but it’s not as big as it once was. I have a feeling it’s about to get smaller at least that’s my hope. Trust him to clean your inner house:0) Trust Him to deal with your convictions. You will find freedom.

I’m working on pride. What are you working on? Share and we can encourage each other.