Don't Mistake Zeal For Maturity

# 95 Today's Prime Time Devo comes from: 1Ti 3:6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. (1 Tim 3:6) It is so exciting to see someone come to faith in Jesus. Their zeal is almost matchless as they get into the Word of God and let the Word of God get into them. Behavior changes that are many times a complete 180 turnaround often accompany these conversions. Unfortunately many time we mistake these changes for spiritual maturity and place these people in positions of spiritual authority before their time. Harm can be done to the body of Christ with these hasty promotions, and as we are warned here, great harm to the novice through that great enemy of the faith....pride. You may think you are doing the novice a great favor by voting them in to the office of elder or sending them out as missionaries, or even ordaining them as pastors, but according to the Apostle Paul speaking through the Holy Spirit, you are setting them up for the same fall that befell the devil. His pride led to rebellion that ultimately sentenced him to the burning fires of hell for eternity. This is the end of all unchecked pride, and these hasty appointments have the potential to get the snowball of pride rolling! I speak from personal experience. A radio personality who was converted to Christ and on fire for Jesus, I was elected to serve as an elder in the congregation. It wasn't long before my pride rose to the surface over some theological issues and the inevitable conflict with the pastor occurred. To this day, I'm still embarrassed by my actions, but I was one of the fortunate ones. The Lord used a time of prayer at our church to teach me a valuable lesson about humility and I'll never forget how he drew the pastor and I together at the altar of the church and at the foot of the cross. Funny how pride melts away and forgiveness flows at the foot of the cross. With pride gone, grace rushes in and puts us all back where we need to be....in the back row, and if we are asked to come forward to a place of honor and leadership, let it be after the moisture has dried behind our ears.