You who pride yourself on the gifts you have, look to see there is not a worm at the root that will spoil all your fine gourd, and make it die about you in a day of scorchings. Look over your soul daily, and ask, Where is the blood of Christ to be seen upon my soul? What righteousness is it that I stand upon to be saved? Have I got away from all my self-righteousness? Many eminent religious people have come at length to cry out, in the sight of the ruin of all their duties, “Undone, undone, to all eternity!” Thomas Wilcox
The pride of gifts is one that is hidden to many and yet all have it to varying degrees. Some pride themselves on their physical gifts in the sense of athletic ability or perhaps in the area of the arts or craftsmanship in some field. Others have pride in their intellectual gifts, but what Wilcox is speaking of here is in the realm of Christian living. Regardless of the area of giftedness the human heart is either given to pride or prone to pride for anything it might be able to distinguish itself from some others. The proud heart is always looking for a way to distinguish itself in order that it and others may admire it. The area of spiritual giftedness is no different in the human heart in one sense, but it can really expose the depths of pride in its own way.
All physical gifts are from God, but they are perceived to be something He gives us in our genetic material and then leaves the use of them up to us. Spiritual gifts are thought to be gifts that He gives us to be used at church or in spiritual things and yet they are still thought to be powered and used at our discretion. What Wilcox is getting at, or at least I think so, is that some people have pride in their use of what they think of as spiritual gifts and yet there is no reliance upon the blood of Christ for sin and no reliance on the righteousness of Christ. The gifts themselves can appear to hide our sinful hearts from us and they (the gifts) can hide our absolute need of the righteousness of Christ each and every moment from us.
Spiritual gifts (whether real or simply perceived as such) are from God and are to be powered by grace with the intent of His glory. Spiritual gifts are not to be used for the honor of self whether before our own eyes or before others, but instead they are to be manifestations of the glory of God. Even in our physical gifts they are not there so that the creature can use them to exalt self, but instead are for the glory of God. With spiritual gifts, however, it seems that the obligation to use them for the glory of God is even greater. There is no place for anyone to exercise a physical gift and then exalt in himself before himself and/or others, but to use a spiritual gift in that way is idolatry and even blasphemy. It is to use Christ and His Spirit as means to gain honor and glory for self rather than to seek the glory and honor of Christ.
Each heart should be careful to note that pride in what it is doing is completely opposite of what the humble Lamb of God was when He took human flesh to Himself and went to the cross to die for the glory of God and the good of sinners. A heart of pride is completely opposite to a heart that is resting in the righteousness of Christ which He earned by humble doing all that He was sent to do and fulfilling the law out of love for God and His people. When Christ healed a person He was not full of pride, but instead He pointed to God. When Christ fed thousands, that did not fill Him with pride but instead He humbly pointed to the glory of God.
When sinners see how utterly dependent upon God for all things, they should bow in humility before Him for any good He does through them. When sinners see that they have done something that appears to be good, instead of being puffed up about themselves they should be humbled that God would use them. When sinners see that they have done something of spiritual good, then should examine their hearts and know that it was the blood of Christ that purchased the Spirit for them and it was the Spirit who worked that in them. Despite all of that, sinners who are even modestly acquainted with their own hearts will know that their own sinful hearts have tainted all that they do and so they know that the very best they do still needs the blood of Christ to cover them. They will also know that the very best they have done, since it is tainted with sin, can add nothing to their own righteousness and as such they know that they need the perfect righteousness of Christ. Each day, then, sinners should be looking to Christ alone knowing that if what they are doing is causing them to think of self and seek the honor of self that means they are not looking to Christ alone. Only those who have Christ alone will not be cast out. We should be diligent to search our hearts to see if we are looking to the cross and righteousness of Christ alone.
God Loves... Himself 
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