Egocentricity is manifested in self-righteousness. 


Self-righteous people believe they are less evil


than others. Self-righteousness, also known as


 sanctimoniousness, sententiousness, and 


holier-than-thou attitudes, is a sense of 


(typically smug) moral superiority derived from


 a view that one's ideas, behaviors, or connections 


are of greater virtue than the average person's.

Self-righteous people are usually intolerant 


of other people's beliefs and behaviour. They are


 extremely confident in their righteousness or


 moral superiority—they try to "lord" it over 


others, unfairly dismissing them as weak and 


dependent. They normally come across as someone


 who is adamant about the correctness of his or


 her own actions or ideas.


The more a person shouts about their religion, 


the more likely it is a matter of pride, arrogance,


 and self-righteousness.

Arrogant self-righteousness can lead a person


 to believe that he "knows it all," that he 


understands all, and that his judgment is perfect.


Solomon's advice here is that the righteousness 


of the righteous must be accompanied by humility. 


A person's virtue and righteousness run the risk


 of generating intellectual and moral conceit in the


 absence of humility.

Jesus warned the Pharisees 


of hypocrisy. 


They were bringing God into account in their


self-righteousness because they considered 


His law was woefully inadequate. 


The Pharisees added their self-righteousness to 


God's written word through spoken and/or oral law, 


a collection of rules and regulations established 


by the minds of men spanning generations


What a show of arrogance!



As Mark 7:6-9 demonstrates, 


their desecration of the written rule 


was not wise. 


They were blinded by their 


arrogant self-righteousness, 


unable to see that, in their


 desperate attempts to compensate 



for what they saw to be God's 



faults and the people's failures,


 

they were adding despair to 


people's lives. 



Their assessment of what God requires lacked 


a correct sense of perspective about what 


God requires.

An arrogant and self-righteous person may 


conceive of themselves as important and assert 


that they "know almost everything," understand 


fully what is going on, and that their judgment 


is factual.


They have an inflated sense of importance, 


believe they are righteous in and of themselves, 


believe they are superior to others, treat others


 with contempt, are certain of their own 


righteousness, exhibit pious self-assurance


 showing an exaggerated awareness of their 


own virtuousness and righteousness, have a 


tendency to see the sins and faults of others, 


can be very critical and dismissive of others,


 believe they are always right, better, smarter, 


or more important than other people.



People are turned off by arrogant and 


self-righteous people who put others down, 


are intolerant of other people's beliefs and 


actions, and make others feel uncomfortable 


and spiritually inferior. Their arrogant feeling


 of self-importance overshadows their ability 


to recognize their own unresolved issues.



Many arrogant and self-righteous people reject 


criticism and don't seem to understand any 


variation of their own argument... let alone 


any overarching counter-argument of any kind. 


As a result, arrogance might be described as a 


type of delusion.



People who are self-righteous strive to appear


 and sound virtuous. They desire that others see


 and hear how righteous they are. It has nothing to 


do with God's glory.



They are more concerned with the show... with


 the external image. They display their excellent


 works to gain acceptance and acclaim from 


others. They desire to be treated in great respect,


 to be seated in the best seats, and to be addressed


 with pompous titles while completely ignoring 


their inner conversion.


This is precisely what the 


Scriptures tell us the Pharisees did.



In Matthew 23, Jesus chastised the scribes and


 Pharisees, the epitome of self-righteousness, six


 times for strictly adhering to their legalistic rituals, 


openly wearing their righteousness visibly, 


sounding the trumpets when they would give, fast,


 and so on. They would make a public exhibition 


of their goodness in order to appear more righteous


 to others (Matthew 6:16, 3:8, 6:2).



Only the proud suffer from self-pity. Because of 


excessive pride, arrogance breeds contempt for 


others.



An arrogant individual is usually impolite and 


enjoys offending people. They are incapable of


taking abuse, but they can be cruel and 


condescending to others.


According to our findings, this type of arrogance


 might be utilized as a coping mechanism by people


 who are covertly insecure. Their uneasiness 


masquerades as confidence, self-worth, or 


self-importance.

Definition of Arrogance:


Arrogance is defined as an obnoxious way


 of thinking or doing that stems from the belief 


that you are better, smarter, or more important


 than others.

Definition for 


Self-righteousness


(also called sanctimoniousness, sententiousness, 

and holier-than-thou attitudes):

A feeling or display of (usually smug) moral superiority

derived from a sense that one's beliefs, actions, or 


affiliations are of greater virtue than those of the average 


person.

Self righteousness literally means...

 

self-right.

The self-righteous can have or demonstrate 


an inflated sense of their own significance, merit, 


skill, and so on. They could be arrogant and 


self-centered.


What a show of arrogance and lack of humility. 


This is neither wisdom, nor is it righteousness.

If we ridicule individuals we regard to be


 "sinners," or believe we are better than they are, 


we are committing the sin of self-righteousness.


Some people's self-righteousness blinds them.


Some people are blinded by their 


self-righteousness.

Scripturally, self-righteousness is the belief

 that we can develop righteousness within 

ourselves that is acceptable to God.

Jesus told a parable about those who "trusted in


 themselves that they were righteous and 


despised others" (Luke 18).


Jesus mentioned two men coming up to the temple 


to pray, one of whom was a Pharisee and the other


 a tax collector.


The Pharisee began by thanking God that he was 


not like the sinners of society before listing his 


own notable virtues.



The tax collector stood at a distance, his eyes 


downcast, appealing for God's mercy and 


admitting himself to be a sinner.



What is the conclusion?



The confessed sinner was acceptable before God,


 but the self-righteous Pharisee was not.


Our righteous works, according to Isaiah,


 are like filthy rags ( Isaiah 64:6 ). He was 


discussing self-righteousness (the things we


do to try to make us right with God).


On the surface, self-righteousness appears 


to be attractive. Some appear holy, yet they 


just believe in themselves to be good enough 


for God. They seek God based on their 


righteousness and what they can do for God.

Nobody can be righteous based


on their own actions.

According to Scripture, God must become more 


important, while we must become less important.


Self-righteousness breeds arrogance.

Solomon's wisdom reminds us that the goodness 


of the righteous must be coupled with humility. 


A person's goodness and righteousness run the


 risk of generating intellectual and moral pride


 in the absence of humbleness.

God's righteousness and 


our self-righteousness are 


totally opposite.



"God must increase, 


but we must decrease."


John 3:30


God must become greater. 


We must become less. 

As God gains more honor, glory, and power, 


our own significance decreases. He who comes 


from above possesses considerably more


 dignity and power. He is incomparably more


 knowledgeable of the Divine Will, and He


 surpasses all.


We are God's righteousness. What a tremendous


blessing it is to know how to set and how to rise...


 cheerfully submitting to God's righteousness. We 


must be willing to be regarded as nothing in order 


to honor Christ... to be anything or nothing in 


order for God to be all.



We will not have to rely on our actions to


 please God. God is pleased with us because 


we believe in Jesus. 


 May we continue to decrease and submit to 


God's righteousness.

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