Pride...

He who humbles himself will be exalted and he who exalts himself will be humbled.

Humility is the key to promotion. But it comes with a price. It’s almost like beating yourself into submission. If we truly want to reach our full potential in Christ, we must take our eyes off of our plan and work God’s mission for our lives. One must realized that they are nothing yet highly important at the same time. To wrap your mind around the concept that God created you for a purpose yet you are incapable to fulfill it, is a hard pill to swallow. It is imperative that we acknowledge God in all that we do and give Him the glory for it all. True our destiny has our name on it, however we are not necessary to fulfill the mission of our destiny. Christ is the key. Christ is the lock and even the door. We are nothing. True we may be needed to put the key into the lock to open the door; we have to realize that any hand can do that. Our hand in particular is not at all essential to the opening of the door. We as fleshly being tend to take the mere fact that God has chosen to use us to the extreme. We begin to view ourselves as the only person capable of handling the task. We become a celebrity in our own mind. This mind set is dangerous. This mindset is the onset and sometimes the fruit of cockiness. Cocky is spelled P.R.I.D.E. God hates pride and men find it hard to deal with proud persons. The Bible says that pride comes before the fall. This truly is the order of events. First pride takes over everything from the way we think to the way we deal with people. This is sometimes able to hide under the appearance of humility, while pride lies in the heart. Next the life begins to crumble because the pride in the heart of man leaves no room for God. Man begins to operate on his own outside the will and direction of God. Man will promote himself based on his own thoughts of himself. Solomon teaches us to trust in the Lord with all our heart and to lean not to our own understanding. Paul urges us to not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. Paul himself was humbled before God on the road to Damascus. Paul, formally Saul, thought so much of himself; that he believed it to be right to persecute those who proclaimed Christ. He was blinded on the way to do harm to even more of Gods people. God removed his physical sight and still sent him on his way. A blind Paul received instructions from God. He had no choice but to rely on the almighty to reach his destination. This was Paul’s beating into submission. Being humbled will hurt. God will remove the you that you think you are and leave you with the incapable you that you are. Life becomes like trying to win a boxing match with no arms. At some point you will realize that you alone won’t get through it. If there is no one on your side to throw punches for you, you will sooner or later find yourself in a posture of submission. Submission is never involuntary. Even though you may be beaten to a pulp you must chose to submit. Moses’ moment of pride kept him out of the promise land. Pride can lead us into a judgmental spirit. Thinking too highly of ourselves will usually leave us looking down on others.

Pride is a two sided devil.





The other side of pride is insecurity. This side however, is rarely thought of as being prideful. It too often takes on the appearance of humility. This is possible because an insecure person doesn’t typically force his or her way to the front but will reluctantly be forced behind. This battle goes on in the mind and is often over looked by outsiders. This personal battle, much like cockiness, will also leave a person focusing on self. The danger of this mindset is the constant struggle to feel worthy. Persons with this sort of pride are addicted to being accepted. They often will wonder why they don’t fit in but feel that they should. Because of the nature of this person, while inwardly screaming, “HELLO” they are sometimes quietly overlooked in a crowd. Because of the needy nature of this demon, when given any sort of accolade it only creates more of a need for such. This then becomes the drive of everything they do. All this is done to edify self and to fill a void in life. Instant gratification is all this person needs. However gratification won’t usually come instantly. Life becomes either an over exertion of vain efforts or destruction by slothfulness. All this is done without God. There is no reliance on God. Every thing done is to be seen and rewarded by man. But only what you do for Christ will last. The way they see themselves is not how God sees them. The Psalmist writes that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. However, being focused on self always seems to magnify everything that we don’t like about ourselves. Again we find isolation because of not acknowledging God. One of the grave dangers of this sort of pride is the destructive nature that it can cause. Much like a balloon is able to withstand only so much air. This person can only take on so much ridicule and seclusion. Because this demon demands to be seen, it results to acting out for attention. It takes a very strong person to hold him back. Once a person driven by such has reached their pinnacle, an explosion of sorts is almost inevitable. These acts of course will grant the sort of attention needed by the demonic forces within, but will not satisfy the flesh. People will normally be turned off by this outrageous behavior and begin to reject the person even more so. Now that the demon within has gotten what it wants, the flesh of man is left even more confused and left out. Thus, beginning the process all over again.