I want to be a tax collector

Today in church we started a series on the 7 deadly sins. Doesn't sound too exciting, but today it was pride and it was really good. I know I have pride. And a lot of it. So today was really good for me. I hadn't thought about something P. Al said. The reasons these sins are truly harmful even though they seem so small compared to murder, adultery or whatever it may be, is because they are usually the root that these others sins stem from. Yikes! It is so true. People usually don't just get up and kill someone. Usually there is a motivator whether it is anger, jealousy, greed or something else that leads people in that direction. These are also not acknowledged as much as what appear to be "bigger" sins, so they are then left to do their work and are also a lot harder to detect because they are happening internally. I look at myself and find the desire to be really awesome. I know it is not necessarily bad to desire people to think good things of you, but they are definitely not the most important in the scheme of things or things that are most worthy of my time. I don't want to be a pharisee that looks good on the outside; I want to be a tax collector that is humble before God and just thankful that he is able to know God. I want to remain so focused on him that I don't think about what others think or what I appear like. Even while writing this it has been so easy for me to think, "what if my friends reading this don't understand this or take things the wrong way and..." yeah, you get the point. I am so grateful for a pride check and need them often. What a good reminder that God is faithful and going to give me what I need, whether earthly things or heart transformation, when I need it most.