Defilement of the Spirit
The third danger, most subtle of all, and pervading all, is pride, the exaltation of the human. And this is the temptation that Satan often successfully uses upon the spiritual Christian who has gotten beyond serving in the energy of the flesh or in the energy of the soul. We must cleanse ourselves of all defilement of flesh and of spirit. Serving “in lowliness of mind, each counting other better than himself,”—this is to have the mind of Christ. Serving in love that envieth not, that vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, that seeketh not its own,—this is to have the mind of Christ. It is at the other pole from pride.
How are we to have the mind of Christ? Not by looking at him as an example and trying to imitate him. There is real hopelessness in singing
Trying to walk in the steps of the Saviour,
Trying to follow our Saviour and King,
Shaping our lives by his blessed example....
For that is just what we cannot do—shape our lives by his example. When we are ready to stop “trying” to do this, and will yield ourselves that we may be conformed to his death, then our trying may be changed to trusting, we can “leave the miracle to him,” and returning to the beautiful hymn whose first verse makes a bad start, we can sing with new meaning the opening lines of the third verse:
Walking by faith in the steps of our Saviour,
Upward, still upward, we’ll follow our Guide.