Scripture
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Observation
Jesus tells a parable to some people who were self-righteous and proud. In the story, a Pharisee and a tax collector go to the temple to pray. The Pharisee prays proudly to God, boasting of his religious deeds. The tax collector, on the other hand, simply cried out to God, “Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Jesus concludes that it was the tax collector rather than the self-righteous Pharisee who went away in a right relationship with God.

Application
It is so easy to forget that we are all sinners justified by the grace of God. When we hang around Christians enough, we start to enjoy our own good deeds a little too much. We condemn the sins of other people but forget the part about loving (really loving, not just pretending to love) the sinner.

Maybe we aren't as blatant about it as the man in the story, but sometimes we can be tempted to think God is pretty blessed to have us on his team.

The truth is that in any of us, even the most sanctified of saints, sin lurks just below the surface waiting to escape.

Self-righteousness is a form of delusion that persuades us that we are something better than we really are, and that God is something less than who He is.

We will always be sinners dependent on grace. But God's grace will always be enough to save us.

Prayer
Father I thank you for your unending grace. Rescue me from the sin of self-righteousness and teach me how to receive your righteousness. Amen.