In the character of Naaman, we see a man who was truly a “legend in his own mind.” Many are misunderstanding and rejecting God’s Word today because they desire to please self instead of pleasing God (2 Kings 5:11-12).<\/p>\n
The Attitude Of Naaman<\/strong><\/p>\n Let’s note some other possible reasons why Naaman was a “legend in his own mind.” From the beginning of this story in 2 Kings 5:1, we see at least two possible reasons that could have played a factor resulting in the arrogant attitude of Naaman: <\/strong><\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> He was a “great” and “honorable” man in the eyes of the Syrian king (Ben-hadad – 2 Kings 5:1; cf. 2 Kings 6:24).<\/strong><\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> He was a “mighty man in valor” (2 Kings 5:1). It is possible that Naaman simply thought of himself as “great” and “mighty.” As a result, he would have displayed an attitude of self-importance resulting in his arrogant disposition.<\/p>\n After the prophet (Elisha) sent a messenger to Naaman giving him God’s instructions on the process of getting rid of his leprosy, Naaman thought his ideas were better than God’s instructions (2 Kings 5:10-12). He should have been thankful and satisfied with the promise of being made clean of his leprosy. Instead, “Naaman became furious” (2 Kings 5:11 ) because he didn’t get “his way” or “I thought”).<\/p>\n An Attitude Of Selfish Pride<\/strong><\/p>\n In the religious world we live in today, many folks become angry when God’s word doesn’t match up with their wants. “Their thoughts” take precedence over “God’s thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). We desperately need to dispense with that kind of selfish pride and be more concerned with what God thinks than what we think (Romans 11:33-36).<\/p>\n An Attitude Of Unthankfulness<\/strong><\/p>\n We also see a attitude of unthankfulness in the character of Naaman. Did he appreciate or offer any expression of thanks to the young Hebrew slave for telling her mistress (Naaman’s wife) about a prophet (Elisha) who could ask God to cleanse him of his leprosy (2 Kings 5:2-3)? (Note: After the cleansing of his leprosy, Naaman did finally humble himself and expressed his thankfulness to Elisha, the prophet – 2 Kings 5:10,15).<\/p>\n Paul’s Exhortation<\/strong><\/p>\n In Romans 12:3, Paul exhorts each of the brethren at Rome, “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think….” Every Christian should work at having a character of humility, because there is a great tendency within many of us to think too highly of ourselves, i.e. our intellect, abilities, etc.<\/p>\n Remember that God stands against such puffed up attitudes (1 Peter 5:5). Paul’s exhortation to us is to think of ourselves wisely and accurately, making a sane and well-balanced evaluation of our abilities – not an insane, unbalanced judgment.<\/p>\n Conclusion:<\/strong><\/p>\n Are we sometimes like Naaman, thinking that we are a “legend in our own mind?” If we think we are, perhaps we need to “humble ourselves” before God and ask His forgiveness that we might become better servants<\/strong> of His (2 Chronicles 7:14; James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:6).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the character of Naaman, we see a man who was truly a “legend in his own mind.” Many are misunderstanding and rejecting God’s Word today because they desire to please self instead of pleasing God (2 Kings 5:11-12). The Attitude Of Naaman Let’s note some other possible reasons why Naaman was a “legend in … Continue reading “A “Legend In His Own Mind” – Bible study”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45953\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}