There is this transparent little thing in our lives. It sits very comfortably, feels very nice, seems very innocent, can be very soothing and provide us with tons of confidence, but it is a very ugly little thing, called Pride.
Now when we think pride, we think of an arrogant flashy or stubborn person and we find it very easy to say that we are definitely not proud, but make no mistakes my friends, this ugly little thing comes in all colours, shapes and sizes and they are not always as easy to see. Some are loud, big, and aggressive, but some can be a shy, cute little thing. Regardless of their nature, they are all ugly, destructive and are very good at camouflage.
So why is it that pride is such a toxic thing, and where and how does it hide if it is so well known to be arrogant and flashy? Although pride does not taste too bad, it has many side effects which can and will do a lot of damage over time. There is such a long list of reasons why this thing is so bad, but let us discuss a few.
Firstly, Jesus has put so much emphasis on the importance of humility and there is so much scripture on the topic, that it is an entire article on its own, but today we are looking at pride, and pride is the exact opposite of humility, which is the first major reason why we should rid ourself of it.
Pride blinds us, makes us selfish and condescending. Pride takes up so much space in our character and it smothers what is pure and beautiful, much like weeds can destroy a garden, so too does pride ruin our hearts. So many beautiful things, with so much potential, rapidly wilts in the presence of pride, and a simple example may be something like making a donation towards a good cause or helping someone financially, which is a kind and generous act, one which pleases God, but if you sprinkle a little pride on it, it instantly becomes disgusting.
I am sure we all know people who like the praise for being generous and some people even praise themselves. God definitely does not see anything good in that, in fact, the words says in Matthew 6:3 that our one hand should not know what the other one does, meaning that we should not make any effort to let anyone know when we do give to the needy and the reason is clear, it is so that we may not boast.
Pride kills most of the good qualities that Jesus wants us to have, it cripples our discipleship and disables our servanthood for the Kingdom of God. We become self-seeking, arrogant, and most importantly, distant from God.
How can a proud person come in true humility before God with repentance, how can pride be useful when we are supposed to lay down our lives? Matthew 16: 24 to 26 reads: “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”
You cannot put yourself second to anything when you are filled with pride. You cannot love the way you are supposed to love when you are proud, because pride will not let that get past you. Pride will not make you a good husband or wife, because it will convince you that you, and your will deserve respect and attention, it will blind you to your mistakes and imbed a strong resistance in you to ask for forgiveness, when what you really need to be, is humble, forgiving, tolerant and willing to make sacrifices. Pride cannot help heal God’s children when they are on the wrong paths, because pride cannot be humble, sympathetic or understanding, only judgemental and condemning.
The ugliest thing about pride, is that pride is the reason we will not admit to ourselves that we are proud. This sounds funny, but when we hurt someone, behave unfairly, experience negative emotions or sin and we are humble, then we can admit that and change it or repent, but when we are proud, we find it much harder to admit it, or anything else for that matter, because doing so would be in direct contrast with our pride. Can you see why this ugly little thing is so destructive? It swallows you in its trap.
Now to answer the question as to how and where this thing can hide, we need to look a little closer, not at anybody else, because frankly that is none of our business, we need to look at ourselves. The world has tried to dress this ugly thing up, saying that pride can sometimes be good or healthy, like when taking pride in your work, you kids, your talents and so forth, but no, pride in any dress, size or shape is not pretty, ever. It may start out as small and seem innocent, but it slowly grows unnoticed and turns into a big fat hairy monster.
Pride also has a family member we may know all too well, called vanity, she is very popular on social media and many people spend many hours Infront of the mirror and camera entertaining her and she is just as destructive. Take a careful look at your actions and the reasons you do things, think about it when you find it hard to forgive someone or do something with or for someone.
The best way to rid your heart of pride, wherever it may hide, is to seek to be humble in all you do. I leave you with these verses. Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” and Proverbs 22:4 “Humility is the fear of the LORD; its wages are riches and honour and life.”
God bless,
Miryna van As