Pride is Prowling

The word “pride” has been a keynote speaker in the media this past week. It’s a word that throughout time has stirred many different connotations in our minds. When I hear the word, my mind immediately associates it with success and being American. I was raised to be proud of who I was, what I accomplished, what my family accomplished, what my country stood for, what I looked like, my heritage, my intelligence, my job, my freedom and the list goes on and on. Pride motivated me to achieve the high standards I set in my life; it pushed me to go beyond pain and to jump the hurdles life presented before me.

As I write this, I can almost hear my younger self cheering me on. Dream it, believe it, achieve it…another award won, another goal obtained, another standard set. If I could go back and have a conversation with said “younger self”, these wise words imparted by the Holy Ghost to Solomon are the first I would share: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 18:16

Dear Younger Self: The Lord speaks wisdom to us through His Word for a reason – to protect us. Believe Him when He says He loves you and wants the best for you. Believe Him when He says to lean on Him and not on your own understanding. Believe Him when He says His ways will prosper you. With wisdom, I warn you that with each step up the world’s ladder the chances of falling increase. Physics proves as the height we climb increases, the greater the impact with which we hit the ground also increases.

God’s ways are not the world’s ways. The world says pride is necessary to get ahead in life and grows you to places beyond your imagination. God says, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” I John 2:16. At the top of the world’s ladder, our pride tells us, “look at this…you did it!” Pride blinds us from seeing the aftermath and destruction left behind in the path we just plowed to success. Pride covers our eyes to the bridges burned, the people neglected, the pain created and the toll on our souls.

The world looks up and admires the height we climbed as we reach for the top rung of the ladder, but nobody remains at the top forever. Worldly success is temporary. One day, the ladder begins to sway; we hold on for dear life- kicking, clawing and grasping to stay at the very top causing more pain and heartache to ourselves and those around us. We can’t fall, because we know it’s really going to hurt from this height. It may even be deadly to our mortal body.

Gains here on earth are temporary. Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians instructs us on how to shift our eyes from temporary gains to the eternal. Eph 20:16-21 “I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do so much more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

Faith is the first step. Through faith, Christ will dwell in our hearts, strengthen us and give us comprehension of His love. Then, we will no longer need pride as a motivator. Instead, we will have the power of Jesus giving us the ability to do much more than we ask or imagine. He will set our goals and give us the power to achieve them. He will overcome every obstacle standing in the path that He created for us. He will teach us to stand in eternal victory.

Jesus, strengthen my faith. Help me to submit fully to the plans You have for my life. Help me to rest in the eternal and take my eyes off the things of this world. Remind me daily that if I walk the path You laid out for me, I will not fall. Remind me daily to stand strong in the power You have given me. In Jesus Name.