Pride

In the bible nothing is more difficult to understand than the stance on pride.  Absolutely everyone has experienced pride in their lives.  I mean, there is probably no one who could honestly say that at no point in their life have they thought to at least themselves, that was really good, and I did it.  This is extremely troubling because in the bible being prideful about oneself is essentially prohibited. Take for instance just this small sampling of verses talking about pride.


Proverbs 16:18-19 (18) Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. (19) Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.


Proverbs 8:13 (13) To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

Psalm 10:4 (4) In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.

1 Corinthians 4:7 (7) For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?


I mean, there's some pretty strong language in there.  Its clearly obvious the pride does not sit well with God, and is in fact the reason the Lucifer was cast from Heaven to the earth and reduced to the devil.  That's really troubling, considering the fact that none of us have lived a life without pride, and almost everyone continues to feel proud at various times throughout their life.  There is seemingly no way to stop it either.  I mean how can you change something that is seemingly at the very essence of what makes us human.  ITo be proud we are told is a good thing according to popular culture and by the government (And I'm proud to be an American....).


I asked this question to Brendon Foulke a while ago (he's a pretty awesome guy, so if you ever meet him get to know him) and he responded with this:


"well its not that pride is bad all the time, to be prideful in your band is perfectly ok, but to take that pride and let it go to your head, where you make it bigger than it should be that is when it gets into being a problem.
and you should take pride in your work, because if you didnt take pride in your work, you probably would never really want to put your heart in it. The bible also says that you need to put your heart into what you do, and to do everything you do with all your heart. So i think that pride in a good way is ok, but when you let it get to your head and you start acting like you are hot stuff, thats when it becomes a sin. So ya be proud and prideful in your band, just dont let it get in between you and God, and your witness to other people."


I think thats a pretty good response and can really pretty much help anyone out there struggling with pride, however, I recently decided to dig deeper.  i definitely agree with Brendon, some forms of pride are good, and we should always "take pride in our work" because we want it to be the best it can be.  However, that pride can't be coming from the typical perspective.  We need to take pride in our work so that it can better glorify God.  I determined that from 2 Corinthians 10:13 (13) We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has assigned to us, a field that reaches even to you.


I also came up with one more conclusion on pride.  For pride about a talent we have, or perhaps something we own (aka materialism), or a child of yours (i obviously do not have a child yet), or anything else similar to those we must again redirect it to God, because guess what, God allowed whatever it was to happen, or gave you the talent, or made it possible for you to give birth.  This idea is reflected in the verse 1 Corinthian 4:7 (7) For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?


So, in conclusion, next time you feel pride coming on, remember A) to make sure that by doing whatever it is you're doing is glorifying God and if it is then take pride in what you are doing to better glorify Him (and if its not, well then you probably shouldn't be doing it anyway and you almost certainly shouldn't be proud of whatever it is), and B) remember that whatever it is you are proud of was given to you from God.  Oh, and one more thing, being proud of God is never a bad thing ;).


Until next time,
Godspeed 


PS: for my first conclusion bringing glory to God can occur in many different ways, a lot that you wouldn't think of.  For instance playing a sport could be used to bring glory to God (you are one of his creations) or playing an instrument, or writing, or dancing, or almost anything.