The Power of Pride: Part 1

Powder Puff Pride

Powder puff football is dangerous.

But, not nearly as dangerous as pride.

Combine the two, and you get a 40 year-old woman enduring the first surgery of her life to repair a meniscus and totally reconstruct the ACL in her knee.

Yeah, yeah…powder puff football sounds safe. Everyone thinks it’s just this fun, easy-going, quasi football game for girls. I mean, any sport with the word PUFF in its very name couldn’t possibly be dangerous. The moniker conjures visions of sweet little girls running around in pig tails and doggy ears adorned with fluffy hair bands and eye black in soft pink and made of glitter. These teams sat around before the big game braiding each others’ hair and painting their fingernails to match their jerseys.

Sound logic.

Well, just go right ahead and throw logic out the window, ‘cause powder puff football at McDonald County High School was serious business back when I was teaching there. It may have been just flag football with no pads or helmets, but the injury count put any boys’ Friday night game to shame. Shame I tell you. And for some stupid reason, the staff decided we should put together a team and play against the students. Good grief! That was like throwing filet mignon to hungry lions…and we weren’t the lions.

I believe it was the second play of the game when I went down. I was a lineman, and my job was to hold the line. Stand like an impenetrable wall, and not allow the 16 year-old girl playing my counterpart to get through. And by golly, there was NO 16 year-old girl gonna push me around. I’ll tell you that much. When we crashed together, I couldn’t believe how strong she was. Didn’t matter that I was in my late 30s and in the worst shape of my life. I was in total denial about that. All I knew was there was no way I was gonna let this “kid” push me to the side.

I wouldn’t budge – like the walls of ancient Troy…no one was getting through me. Against her strength, my stubbornness forced my body to lock itself in place. I knew this was bad; I felt it, but I didn’t know how to get out of it. I wouldn’t have to worry for long because my body would get out of it for me. Take all the force of two rams locked head-to-head, and that pressure will find the weakest spot on the weakest ram and blow out the buildup. That usually results in one of the rams being pushed backwards. Unfortunately, my body was locked, and I wasn’t giving in. So, BAM…my left knee just came apart as the pressure blew out, and I hit the ground with nothing but my pride to cushion the fall.

What an idiot! My pride cost me a lot of money, and rehab, and endless jokes at my expense, and aggravation, and frustration, and time, and loss of function and ability that will continue to plague me the rest of my life. Thank you, me.

I wish I could tell you that this was my wake-up call to the seriousness of pride – how deep it goes, how well it’s hidden, how easily it corrupts everything in life – and how I overcame it and lived happily ever after.

I wish.

Unfortunately, my pride has had demonstratively greater expressions of itself than that displayed in a powder puff football game.

DEMONSTRATIVELY GREATER!

What is Pride?

[For purposes of this series, we are dealing with “pride” as associated with one’s pleasing feelings connected to one’s personal value, status, or accomplishments, as one sees them.]

Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall, (Proverbs 16:18).

Pride will manifest nothing good in life.

Everything it leads to, and can become, is bad. Take a look of some of the things pride can lead to:
*preoccupation with self
*blindness to needs of others
*inability to recognize Truth, especially about oneself
*envy
*jealousy
*judgmental attitude
*arrogance
*superficiality
*defensiveness
*makes you a slave to the world
*complete denial

These are just a few things.

The worst thing pride will lead to is a fragmented relationship with God.

All the things God hates and He sees as abomination are rooted in pride, (Proverbs 6:16-19). You cannot fulfill your relationship with God if you are prideful. It will always serve as a barrier between you, and that is just what Satan wants. That’s why he created it with such camouflage.

Pride can be as visible as a neon green Maserati blazing down the highway at 185 mph.

Pride can also be invisible and nearly impossible to even detect the slightest hint of, manifesting itself in things that appear good on the surface – like false humility.

Because pride destroys, it must be rooted out and dealt with. Pride has no place in the heart of any Christian.

The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished, (Proverbs 16:5).

The simple Truth is, each of us has a choice: we can humble ourselves before the Lord, acknowledge our pride, repent, and live in awareness & defense of it, OR God will humble you. I promise you, the latter will be more painful by far.

The horror you inspire has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, you who live in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill. Though you make your nest as high as the eagle’s, I will bring you down from there, declares the Lord, (Jeremiah 49:16).

Many of you are thinking that you aren’t that bad. That the Bible is talking about really, really bad people. You’re not like that. You love God. You help people. You go to church, and pray, and read your Bible. You aren’t prideful.

Pride is something we all must struggle with because we are human. Even the most spiritually mature Christian must be aware of it and check the nooks & crannies regularly. We so easily see other’s prideful ways and flaws, but it is almost impossible to see it in ourselves.

From the devil’s point of view, it is the perfect sin. It’s his favorite sin. Pride was the first sin ever committed, and it was Satan who conceived of it from his heart where it found fertile ground. Satan didn’t start out as the devil, but his pride turned him into that, (Isaiah 14:12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19). He was a beloved being, created by God, and his pride turned him into a monster and destroyed the relationship he had with the Heavenly Father.

Think about that.

If you were thinking pride isn’t a serious concern in your life, it may well be worth taking a deeper look considering the power it has.

Self Examination

I pray you will stay with me through this series. Seeing any barrier that can keep you from a truly rich relationship with God is a blessing. It is my hope to help you receive that blessing. Understand that I make no judgment on your life. The following exercise is meant to provoke thought. As Paul declared in 1 Timothy 1:15, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – and I am the worst of them.”

Ask yourself these 5 questions. Be honest…you’re the only one reading this. Pride can live inside you completely undetected, with you totally unaware it is even there. No matter how annoyed, upset, or down-right offended you get, finish reading.

IMPORTANT NOTE: pride surrounds itself with a thick layer of self-defense. Most of you will automatically deny you can answer yes to any of these questions because your defense mechanisms will automatically be triggered. That’s what makes pride so hard to find. It has the greatest defense mechanism…you. Take a moment before proceeding to ask the Lord to open your heart by allowing you to see yourself honestly.

1. Do you find yourself judging or finding fault with others?
Pride produces a hypocritical spirit. You may be thinking, “I’m not a hypocrite!” However, if you are doing either of these – judging or fault finding – you are acting in a hypocritical spirit. You have forgotten the mercy you were shown and are not showing that mercy to others. Have you ever thought any of these things:
“I would never do what so-and-so did”
“I would never wear that to church”
“Why do they let their kids do that”
“He did the dishes, but he didn’t do them right”
“If they were really Christians they wouldn’t act like that”
“I’ve taught VBS for years and volunteered for everything, why wasn’t I chosen to teach Sunday school”
“If homeless people weren’t so lazy they’d get jobs”
“They don’t even know how to fold laundry the right way”

2. Are you the only one (or one of the few) who can be counted on or knows how to do something the right way?
I hit on this in #1, but I felt I had to say it OUT LOUD so it couldn’t be as easily ignored. This kind of pride may make you feel you are the only one who can do something. If you don’t do it, no one else will. Everyone knows they can count on you.
People afflicted with this can have no gratitude that anyone helped them with a task, only being annoyed because it wasn’t done “right”. “Right” meaning their way, and for people suffering with this form of pride…their way is the only way. Some people like to believe they simply like things done a certain way. We call it “picky” or “perfectionism”, and we smile and say things to excuse them.
Well, now this is gonna sting, but I have to tell you that YOU ARE NOT PERFECT. Your way isn’t the best way, and you aren’t the only one who knows how to do something. You were not even capable of offering an acceptable sacrifice before God, and if someone else hadn’t done it for you, you could never experience God’s saving grace. On your own, you are just dirt. Literally, from the dust. So, you better check yourself before you wreck yourself. This attitude is buried in nothing but PRIDE.

3. Do you like or need the attention of others?
Seriously, the only question I should have to ask in today’s world is…do you have any social media accounts? Enough said.
Selfies? Really? This item is the very definition of the category.
“LIKE” this.
Some of you are asking, “Where’s the DISLIKE button?” so you can click that on me right now. If the shoe fits…WEAR IT. Jam your foot right in there and just take it like a man. If you are a man…just take it.
For the select few of you who do not have social media accounts, we need to dig a little deeper to weed this one out. Here’s a few questions/statements for you (not all must apply):
• Do you find it hard to say, “No”
• Do you have conversations where you do most of the talking
• Are you strongly affected by constructive criticism
• Do you feel you must always prove yourself
• The applause/praise you get for doing something is very rewarding
• You try hard to be unique and feel good when it’s noticed
• You enjoy being in charge
• Do you seek flattery
• Does your problem become everyone’s problem
• Would people call you controlling
• Are you guilty of tooting your own horn
• Are you usually the victim
• Do you complain a lot
• Are you the life of the party
• Would people call you a trouble maker
• Will you spend money to impress someone
• Do you always have a story that matches or overshadows someone else’s
• Do you need to feel important/irreplaceable
• Do you pout, throw a fit, give the silent treatment, etc if you don’t get your way or if people don’t do what you think they should

4. Are you too concerned with appearance – yours or other people’s?
This form of pride – vanity – is particularly dangerous, and I’ll explain that in a future article in this series. Millions of dollars are spent yearly on elective cosmetic surgery. Add to that all the Botox and endless other things we are doing all in the name of PRIDE. Women aren’t the only ones who’ve bought this lie – and it is a lie, spawned by the Father of Lies. Men are just as fooled, but sometimes it takes a different angle. A man might not endure a facelift, but he may very well need a certain brand of clothes or can only drive a certain type of vehicle. It’s one thing to have personal preferences, but entirely another thing when it’s too important to you or you judge others based on it. It’s also very much one thing to enjoy getting a facial at the salon or use special moisturizes, but it’s a whole new level when you start injecting poison in your body or taking more extreme measures.
These may be ultimate examples, to which many of you can say are not a problem for you. So, let’s look beneath the surface a little, and if you still don’t think you are vain…tell it to Carly Simon.  Ask yourself these questions:
• What is the first thing you notice about other people
• How many times a day do you check yourself in the mirror
• Do you have a mental list of all the things you don’t like about your body
• How does it affect your attitude about someone to learn how much money they have (or don’t have)
• Have you focused on people’s weight, hairstyle, clothing, etc by either thinking/dwelling on it or commenting to someone else

5. Do you struggle with spiritual narcissism?
Unfortunately, this affects a great many more people than most will admit. The easiest definition of spiritual narcissism is relying on self more than God. Spiritual narcissists have an incredibly difficult time admitting this affects them. But the heart of all the scenarios listed below is because you rely more on yourself than you do on God. It is up to you to ask yourself why.
• You find it difficult to have a time devoted to prayer – perhaps relying on talking to God as you go about your daily life as being good enough, or you rarely pray
• You don’t read the Bible regularly
• You feel your walk with God is better, more holy, or more rewarding, than other people’s walk
• You only attend church on Sunday morning or don’t feel the need to go at all
• You are slow in showing gratitude to God – thanking Him for your successes and blessings, maybe even forgetting the role He plays in your successes and blessings
• In your prayer time, you focus mainly on asking God for things with no spiritual value (this includes health concerns)
• You don’t see the need to ask for forgiveness of your sins, you can justify your sins, or feel you are immune to certain ones
• You feel you already know what is being taught in your Bible study class
• You easily disregard the advice of others
• You follow God’s Word as you see fit
• You live your life according to this belief – “God wants me to be happy.”

Before diving into the second part of this series, spend some time in prayer and honest reflection. Journal how you felt about the Self Examination. Were there any questions or statements that made you feel angry, defensive, or that it wasn’t fair? Think on those.

In part two, we’ll look at a couple of the exam questions more thoroughly and discover why vanity is particularly dangerous. We’ll end this series learning how to defend ourselves against Satan’s favorite sin.

To see Part 2, CLICK HERE.

To see Part 3, CLICK HERE.

Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my concerns.
See if there is any offensive way in me;
lead me in the everlasting way, Psalm 139:23.

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