How God's Love Changes Us: Part 2 - Overcoming Pride & Insecurity Sample

The younger brother and the elder brother are both seeking to meet the same core need. They want to be loved; they just pursue different means of getting that essential longing met. For many of us, our commitment to the false salvation of doing our duty, being good, or being right leads to loneliness and feelings of abandonment. Did the Pharisees have a deeply intimate relationship with Jesus? Were they part of Jesus’ inner circle? No. Their idea of being “right” or having the perfect doctrine was the very thing Jesus condemned most.

The elder brother in us represents our own inner Pharisee. When we are committed to seeking justice over mercy, having correct theology over caring for those we are in disagreement with, a  self- righteous, unyielding posture creates distance in relationships and abandonment for all involved. The elder brother in the parable was faithful; he spent every day working with and for his father and never left home as his younger brother had done.

He was consistent and reliable— his father’s cornerstone. Yet the older brother was so committed to being perfect and earning his father’s approval that he did not know the glory of being chosen and loved. The elder brother could not access a place of longing for relationship because he had not allowed himself to need compassion and connection. 

What resentments are you harboring that you need to be set free from? As the elder brother must come to the table with his family and be honest with his hurts and pain, what must you do to be honest and open your heart?