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Pride
January 19, 2013

In a world that takes pride in accomplishments, the Bible warns us of the pitfalls of pride. Children are introduced to school pride and later as adults take pride in the accomplishments of work. In my hometown of El Paso, there is an expanding public education corruption probe, and pride played a part in this. Even though the Bible warns of pride, pride is a normal part of the human condition. For some, pride can be used to internally motivate oneself for good. The dark side of pride is that to an extreme, pride can internally motivate oneself to not do good. In the example from El Paso, those who participated in the public education corruption scandal probably thought they were doing good things for their school to boost accountability ratings. Because students were denied educational opportunities, public sentiment is that these same individuals did not do good. Pride got in the way. A quest for high test scores overcame the understanding that there will always be others with higher or lower test scores. Those who were the heroes ended up as the zeroes as shame swallowed them, and this is the trap of pride the Bible warns against.

Proverbs 11:2
When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.

The proverb shows that pride is compared to being lowly and this shows pride is used is to describe a person with an inflated self-worth. They are puffed up, and one of the holy days introduced by God, The Feast of Unleavened Bread gives us greater understanding of this concept. Having a realistic understanding of who we are will keep our expectations in check, because sometimes pride drives our motivations, and sometimes motivations drive pride. What we can learn from the Bible is the more realistically we see ourselves, the less likely we are to suffer shame. When the mindset of pride becomes a god, pride drives our faith, and faith becomes a tool of our pride. Everything becomes backwards and upside down. When pride is the god we worship, we cannot worship God.

Proverbs 16:18
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

When we allow ourselves to become puffed up with pride, it is like we are floating higher than we are, and when the bubble of our dream is burst, all we will be able to do is fall down to earth. Satan was cast down to earth and pride rules Satan's mind. If we want to be secure in who we are and what we have done, we need to be real, and not inflate reality. When reality is inflated, everything becomes distorted and when we fall, the fall will be greater than what would be normal. It is much better to be realistic rather than inflate reality. It is better to have less within reality than to have more in an inflated reality. My grandfather who died many years ago would be impressed with the salary I earn until he saw what everything cost. Sometimes more is less, and less is more. Those who live a life bigger than they are will fall. Financially, pride can be shown by those with excessive debt. Those who live in a house that cost way too much will suffer when there are financial hiccups like the last few years. Even though the house looks nice, maybe all that is owned is the doorknob on the front door. When these people miss too many payments, they lose everything. Years ago I was introduced by my parents to the concept of living below my means, and I am so glad I understand this concept because I am much less likely to have a financial downfall. I am not rich and yet I have a content financial life.

Proverbs 29:23
A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.

There are many content with the lives they live. These people are almost always realistically grounded in who they are and the circumstances of their life and the Bible refers to these as humble, and contrasts humility with pride. We already learned that pride is something that puffs up and inflates reality and that all that can happen with pride is to be deflated and fall back to earth. Honor is described as the backbone of humility, and when honor upholds humility, elements of being resolute in our faith are introduced. Rather than pride which is inflated reality, we should strive for honor because when we reject pride and embrace honor we are able to celebrate what is good, embrace what is good, and do what is good.

All verses are from the King James Version.
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