Pride is a Killer!

Human pride is actually a terrible thing. It causes lots of problems. Pride can damn you to hell if you don't watch out. Thinking there is anything "good" in us is just wrong. We can't trust ourselves. We can't really guarantee that we will be able to do anything good or right.

That may sound extreme. But if you think about it, it's really not.

Humans are fallible. We are full of sin. There is nothing good about us, God knows. Paul said it about himself. Jesus knew it.

So, when we want to pat ourselves on the back for something we've done, that very feeling is called "pride". When we feel pretty good about ourselves and our accomplishments, that's when we need to stop and think. Whatever we feel we have accomplished could have easily gone the other way. We could have failed. We could be that guy out on the street, pan-handling for his next dime. He's got a story, too. In fact, maybe pride got him where he landed. Pride will do that to a person.

You think you know it all. You don't need to listen to anyone. After all, you've been around the block quite a few times and gathered all the latest intel, so why should you need to listen to someone who is probably a lot less intelligent than you are?

You know that feeling of judging someone? It's when you put a nice neat label on a person. We all do it. As soon as you take your first look at someone, you put a label on them. You may ask a few random questions just to confirm your estimation of them, but you can pretty much size them up in the first few seconds. You have seen this type of person before. You know exactly what level on the scale they have attained to and, you figure, maybe you're being generous in your calculations. Certainly, at any rate, they are beneath you. In fact, not many can measure up to your standards.

This is the way we humans tend to think "in the natural". When I say "in the natural", I mean, without God's Spirit of Love. Without humility.

Pride will lead us to judge. Pride will always keep us head and shoulders above our brethren. Being beneath another person is just too uncomfortable. We hate it when someone looks down on us! That is a rotten feeling.

So, we are careful to choose the right clothes, the right shoes, the right hair style, the right deodorant, etc. We may think we're doing it for ourselves, but, the fact is, we do it all for others.

If there were no other people in the world, you could walk around naked. Or, at least, you could wear the same shirt every day and never bother to comb your hair.

Ok, maybe a teensy bit of pride is necessary. Just as long as we don't let pride dictate.

When pride dictates, men believe themselves to be God, to be infallible. They make the laws and make others abide by the strictest application of the law. There is no mercy. They don't want mercy even for themselves because they want everyone to know that they are perfect.

Yike.

Humility esteems others to be better than oneself.

Yes, even the cleaning lady. Even the garbage pickers. Seriously? Yep. I think we have to esteem everyone to be better in some way than ourselves in order to strike a balance. Otherwise, who is better than me? The president of the United States? And, by whose standards am I judging?

Seriously, in God's eyes, we really should esteem everyone to be better than ourselves. That's playing it safe. That's calling for humility. When you humble yourself, then you allow God to put you at the correct level, the way God sees you. But, if you put yourself up, God will probably have to come along and knock you down off your high horse.

Why not play it safe? Admit your weaknesses to God and others.

You say, "Even my wife?!"

Even your wife. She already knows what your level is anyway. You can't fool her. And you can't fool God either.

I think it's safe to say that pride is the root of all evil. Pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes.