When the Gospel really gets inside of you, it becomes much more difficult to be prideful. 

Did you know that? Let me break it down. I am so confident about this fact that I believe it is so crucial and important for every single follower of Jesus to wrap their minds around. 

Let’s start with a simple look at what the Gospel is. If you’ve heard this a hundred times, or this is the first for you, this will help us all be on the same page. 

The word Gospel actually means “good news” and so when we talk about what the Gospel is, it’s good to remind yourself and root your thinking in the fact that it is something good. It’s not boring. It’s not old school. It’s not just one of many stories. It’s good news. For you and for me, for the entire world. 

There are so many different places that we could look at Biblically that would help us define the Gospel and explain what it really is, but for the sake of these articles being relatively short, I will keep it simple here. The most famous verse in the Bible is John 3:16. Even those who want nothing to do with Christianity probably know this verse! So let’s use that as our basis for today. 

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

That is the Gospel (good news) summed up in one verse. Now, of course there is a lot more to the picture. Like the fact that you and I are sinners. Which means that we are naturally wired to be against God and live for ourselves and because of the fact that God is perfect, He cannot exist with those who aren’t broken. Uh oh. That means you and me. And to add insult to injury, we cannot change our sinfulness on our own. Which means as far as it depends on us, we will stay marked by our sin for eternity. 

That’s a pretty sad state to be in. Sinners for eternity destined for hell and on our own there’s nothing we can do to change it. 

So why is this called good news then? 

Well, according to John 3:16 (and so many other verses), God sent His Son Jesus into the world to live a perfect life (in other words, live the life that we can’t) and then die on a cross for our sins (in other words, die the death that we deserve) and now, if we believe in Him, we can be saved and go to heaven when we die (and have a full life on earth now). Does it get much better than that?  

God desires to know you so bad that He created the only way to do so. Through belief in His Son, your status of sinner is eternally changed. 

Amen and amen and amen. 

When this message roots itself in our hearts and begins to change who we are, the question becomes, how could we be prideful? What do we have to boast about? How can we look down at anyone else around us? The Bible tells us that if we’ve broken one law in the Bible, we’ve broken all of God’s law (James 2:10).

Newsflash, it’s impossible not to break at least a couple. Which means you’re just as guilty as the worst person you can think of right now who has done horrific things. 

And the beautiful part about all of this? We all have different sins, and we all have the same God and the same forgiveness offered. Which means there isn’t anyone in this world who doesn’t need this good news! 

So… with all of that being said. It’s time to get over ourselves. God thinks the world of us and loves us so much that He allowed for His Son to be killed on our behalf, but not so we could think the world of ourselves. If your faith makes you think more about yourself, then it’s not faith in Jesus, it’s faith in you! 

Let’s end with some words on Paul about the very idea that properly understanding the Bible makes it very hard to be prideful about yourself. 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

Ephesians 2:8-9