We've all heard the saying that pride goeth before the fall. What is it about pride that is so attractive? What is it about pride that trips us up?
Pride is a part of our mind that tells us we are better than, greater than, more important than, more deserving than or more qualified than anyone else. It is an arrogance that deceives us and tries to make us believe that we don’t need God or others, we only need ourselves.
Pride was the sin of Adam. When he took the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge from Eve, he knew what he was doing. He wanted to be the equal of God and already believed he knew better than God.There are many spiritual consequences to pride. It retards our spiritual progress. Pride says, “God, I can do this better than you.” Or, “God, I can take care of this, I don’t need your help.” This attitude keeps us from the intimacy that God wants to have with us. “Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more hope of a fool than of him.” (Proverbs 26:12) Pride throws up a wall between God and us and rejects His help and guidance.
Arrogance and pride that run on for a lifetime unchecked lead to the hardening of the heart that condemns those who refuse to accept anything greater than themselves. When pride becomes so engrained as to be habit, it takes devastating circumstances to overcome it.
What is that thing that drives us to need to feel better than others? I suspect it is an obsessive need to be loved. The very nature of pride says, “I don’t need you.” This drives people and God away, leaving the proud alone and not just humanly lonely, but spiritually lonely, too.
What we really must understand is that no matter what anyone thinks of us, God made us just the way he intended and loves us just the way we are.We are not perfect by any means but we are all gifted one way or the other. We must learn it and get beyond the need to let everyone know about it and focus instead on thanking God for it!
