Pride

We have all heard the saying, “pride cometh before the fall”.  Ever wonder where that saying came from?  Proverbs 16:18  “Pride goes before destruction, And haughtiness before a fall.” NLT  We all have pride, myself included and at times my self-righteous pride has gotten me into a lot of trouble.  There is such a thing as good pride, pride in a job well done.  Pride in accomplishing a task that seemed impossible.  It is difficult to swallow pride, but I am confident that no one has ever choked to death doing so.

As Americans we tend to be proud of our cars, our homes, our designer clothes; all temporary things.  We are proud of our favorite sports team even though we don’t help them in anyway to win a game.  We are proud that we are better than someone else.  Most of us are so proud we would not be seen with certain people, wearing off-brand clothes or driving a used vehicle.

Pride is that attitude of self-worship which causes one to think more highly of himself than he ought to.  We are all fallible, we are all sinners, we are all imperfect.  And in due time, we will all be humbled.  If you don’t believe me read the book, “How The Mighty Fall” by Jim Collins.  We see it everyday in the news of a sports hero or other celebrity who turns out to be human after all and their fall from grace is aired for all to see.  We love reading about other people’s demise for some sick reason, but don’t want to look at our own prideful ways.

In my opinion the opposite of pride would be humility.  Most of us cringe when we hear the world humility.  We associate it with humiliation when it could not be more different.  Humility by definition is a “condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance”.  We tend to think of Mother Theresa when we think about humble people. 

I think of two people that I was blessed to know; a man named Robert and a woman named Arlene.  Almost every week Robert would bring me cookies at my workplace.  He volunteered to clean up the parking lot and take out the trash at a local church.  He helped serve food at a 4th of July outreach.  When invited to a New Year’s Eve party, Robert was the only one who brought a gift for the host and hostess.  Arlene volunteered countless hours in every possible way at a local church, she volunteered with special needs children, she gave what little she had to anyone in need, she rode a bicycle everywhere she went, she danced and sang everywhere she was and she loved with total abandon.  Robert is homeless and Arlene lived in a one-room apartment before she passed away.

Most of us are too proud to associate with the likes of such people. There was a time in my life when I would have been.  I am honored to have known them, they blessed me and made me a better, more humble person.  Robert and Arlene were both someone’s child, someone’s friend.

I challenge you today to practice humility.  Look people, all people, in the eye when you speak to them.  Remember, those we step on, on the way up are the same ones we meet on the way down.  I challenge you to disrobe yourself of the fake image of superiority you carry around.  I challenge you to not compare yourself to others, be teachable, admit imperfections and put others first.