Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” But Peter declared, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the other disciples said the same. (‭Matthew‬ ‭26‬:‭33-35‬ NIV)

The following is what happened after Jesus had been arrested and the disciples had scattered:

Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said. But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.” He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”

After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.” Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed.

Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. (‭Matthew‬ ‭26‬:‭69-75‬ NIV)

Let’s use the Romans 12:2 approach to survey this passage, and see what we can learn from it.

Look Out (Pattern of the World) – The pattern of this world is to say, “I’ve got this!” We go around thinking that we can carry it all and that we shouldn’t show any signs of weakness. It is in our nature to be prideful. All you have to do is look back to Adam and Eve to see that it is in our genes. We want to play the god of our life, and He will let us carry the weight…even if it breaks us!

Look In (Search Your Thoughts) – Peter said that he would not fall away, even if he had to die with Jesus. I got this Jesus! When we search our thoughts, we might very well find that we are saying a similar statement. I would argue that it isn’t necessarily with our words, though. When we go throughout an entire day without stopping for one minute to search His word, pray to Him for help, thank Him for His provision, etc., then we are saying with our actions that we don’t need Him. These are the prideful actions that set us up for a fall!

Look Up (Search for Jesus) – There is a huge contrast between Jesus and everyone else on the night of His betrayal. Jesus was tied up and the others were running free. When the soldiers came up to Jesus, he humbly surrendered. Then, He willingly underwent an excruciating night of mockery, beatings, cursing, and more. He did this to show how important it is too humble ourselves to the will of the Father. We should look to Jesus for an example of how to break pride through humility.

…have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! (‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭5-8‬ NIV)

There is no way around it, Jesus’ actions were Pride Less!

Challenge: Tell God, with your actions, how much you need Him by spending time with Him preparing for the day!