The 5 letter “P” word
Ahh love…it seems like every February we are surrounded by accolades of every sort meant to bring about tender thoughts and stoke the embers of affection into a blaze of ardent love.
I could write a post about love but this time I want to write about something that is an opposing force because my resent research of it has left a deep impression upon my soul.
I always knew it was not good but I never realized just how loathsome it was to God.
It is a five letter P word that precedes the sin of Adam and Eve.
It brought down the most beautiful and highest-ranking angel in heaven (at that time) and is still a tormenter of all relationships.
So what is the 5 letter “P” word that is so…awful?
Pride.
Pride will ravage a soul and from that destroy every relationship it touches…it is something I know all too well from personal experience. I’ve been face to face with pride and it is ruthless. It has a way of stripping the soul of its victim of all dignity. It turns humans into monsters and relationships into piles of ashes.
Perhaps you think me a little dramatic and to be fair I can be sometimes 😉 but in this case I am being brutally honest because I believe it is high time we see this selfishly ravenous and insidious evil for what it is and stop giving it any place, permission, or excuse to exist in our hearts or homes! There is a better way, and this post does end on an encouraging note so don’t give up just yet. :)
Below is the definition of pride as defined in the 1828 Webster’s dictionary
PRIDE, noun
Inordinate self-esteem; an unreasonable conceit of one's own superiority in talents, beauty, wealth, accomplishments, rank or elevation in office, which manifests itself in lofty airs, distance, reserve, and often in contempt of others.
It gets better from here (yes I am being sarcastic 😉 )
The bible has a lot to say about pride and it is stunning to say the least. I am going to list some of the verses below. Don’t speed read through them. Meditate on what each verse is saying and visualize the ramifications that happen without fail when pride is allowed to rear its ugly head. Some mention the word plainly and others allude to pride.
“The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. ”
“For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.”
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. ”
“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. ”
“When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom. ”
“Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom. ”
“In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.”
“Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.”
“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.”
“The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and as an high wall in his own conceit. Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility. ”
“But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. ”
Woah right? For those of you who are like me and do summary lists, here is what I discovered after reading just those few verses.
This is what pride takes away -
Goodwill, understanding, empathy, compassion, peace, wisdom, love, forgiveness, grace, civility, discourse, healing (to name a few things)
And this is a list of things pride brings –
Hurt, destruction (to you and others), discord, shame, abomination, division, evil, foolishness, resistance, selfishness, self reliance, a God complex, offense, oppression, regression, unreasonableness, a false sense of wisdom, delusion
I don’t know about you, but I see pride differently now after studying. It is no longer just one of those things I am going to excuse as an unchangeable character trait (in me or others), or acceptable repeatable behavior, that I need to be Christian like and sit through. This is not to say I haven’t been prideful in my life or that I am going to fight pride with pride. I’m simply going to choose to not give pride a place to harm me and to ask God to help reveal any pride in me.
Pride is a sin, a poor choice, a serious offense; one God says is an abomination to Him. In fact it is such an abomination to him that Satan was kicked out of heaven because he became possessed with pride and remains so to this day.
In the moments I’ve been full of pride, the end results have been everything above and it left me feeling isolated and miserable. It has hurt my relationships and the bitter after taste of pride is never worth the .0005 seconds of satisfaction it brings at the start.
I thank God that He has never let me stay in the slums of pride and He won’t let you either if you ask Him to keep you accountable. He has always made sure to correct me swiftly when I have errored, because pride is not where He wants me to be, nor what I want to be governed by. It is a moment of fleshly feelings that is causing me to puff up like a pastry and He loves me too much to let me get comfortable with pride.
And having been on the receiving end of pride many times, I can say without a doubt that whether I am the perpetrator or the victim of pride, it is just as lethal and an anathema to any relationship. Pride is like a horrible auto accident. It doesn’t really matter who hit who. The damage is far reaching, and everyone is affected who is in pride’s way.
Well if you have made it this far you must be thinking…wow is there any hope or light at the end of this dark tunnel?
Absolutely!!!! For as destructive as pride can be, humility and love can be just as powerful. I’ve seen pride assault a relationship and then I’ve seen humility and love take over and with just a few words and actions of genuine remorse, and a consistent desire to replace pride with selfless Christ like love, the bridges of healing begin to be built.
When God redeemed me, and any one of you reading this, He made us each a vessel fit for His use. He took away the old man and gave new life. No longer am I (or any believer) a slave to sin! For as low as I’ve sometimes let pride drag me down, God continues to help lead me through the wonderful process of healing that comes from choosing to humble myself and offer love to, and ask for forgiveness from, the person or people I’ve hurt. There is a sweetness that comes over me and a relationship when I’ve chosen to walk out humility and not give pride a place to fester.
I hope you have experienced or choose to delight in for the first time, the cleansing, healing power of humility and loving someone more than yourself. Remember, pride is a poor choice, not a character trait or a slave master to which you are in bondage. I, like you, get to decide with every opportunity whether I am going to react in pride or respond in love.
This month as you think about love, I invite you to join me in searching your heart and life for any pride that may have taken root. If it is there, pray and ask God to rip it out using whatever means necessary because then God’s love… His true, abiding, sweet, genuine love will have a place to thrive and find a secure place to call home in all your relationships.
Hope you found this post helpful, eye opening and encouraging and I wish you all a lovely Valentine’s day!
P.S. If you enjoy reading my blog, please consider subscribing. :) I post on Sunday, sometimes Thursdays (sometimes less). No matter what, I hope you are blessed by the content!
P.S.S. Be sure to check your promotions or social inboxes for the blog email and for all other email users, check your spam or promotion inboxes. :)