The following is an excerpt from the book “A Journey Toward
Perfection: Deny Yourself, Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me.”
At the core of
humanity’s rejection of God is pride, the antithesis of humility. Man’s pride
or ego is a self-centeredness, which causes us to place our desires above the
desires of others, even above God’s will. As humans, we wish to live our own
lives according to our desires. When someone else’s desire conflicts with our
own, we experience great discomfort and distress, and sometimes, even anger.
When God’s laws conflict with our desires, we are placed in a position to defy
God or to love God, to seek our own self-interests or to act out in love. For
those who do not wish to acknowledge this conflict between good and evil within
us, it is much easier to deny the existence of God. In this way, we do not have
to follow any rules except those rules that we make for ourselves. As
Christians, we recognize this conflict and realize that on a daily basis we
make decisions between good and evil. However, we do not always recognize each
decision for what it is, a choice in humility or pride. For example, if someone
says something that offends us unjustly or is unkind, our emotions flare up. We
may wish to defend ourselves or to retaliate. This is our pride that has been
injured. Humility does not require us to defend ourselves or to retaliate.
Pride causes us to
use our free will to act on our own self-centered desires often at the expense
of God’s will and at the expense of serving others. Our society has developed
an understanding of pride, which has both positive and negative connotations. Man’s
understanding of pride has been equated to self-confidence, a feeling of being
content with one’s self. Today, it is even acceptable to display a sense of
pride in sinful lifestyles. Gay pride is only one example. Others feel a sense
of pride over “how they told so-and-so off.” Still others feel a sense of pride
when they get away with something even though they knew it was wrong. Time and time again, scandals unfold of those
who built financial empires through dishonesty. Many feel a sense of pride for their
accomplishments. Yet, even our society today does not value those who are
excessively prideful. As a society, we recognize that pride and the
disproportionate love of one’s self is a disagreeable trait because it causes
one to consider themselves better or more important than others. Even while in
our own pride, we do not like others to consider themselves better than us.
How can we, as
humans, be proud while we are in our sinful condition, our evil nature, in our
corruptible flesh? If we compare ourselves with Christ, we would always remain
humble. Can we love perfectly? Can we truly be selfless? What can we do that
hasn't been given to us by God? Whatever talents we possess have been given to
us as gifts when God created us. Even giving us the gift of free will was an
act of His humility. God did not want to force us to love Him. He wanted us to
be able to choose of our own free will. He will never force us to bow down to
Him, even though He is our king and our creator, even though He deserves our
worship, even though He is the almighty God.
According to
Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goeth before
destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Pride is the greatest sin of all because it is the greatest
deception. After all, Satan was cast out of heaven because of his pride. He
wanted to be like God. This is the same deception Satan used with Adam and Eve
in Genesis 2:5, "For God doth know that
in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as
gods, knowing good and evil." The sin
of pride is very alluring. We want to be masters of our own lives and destinies,
masters of our own circumstances. Pride causes us to use our free will to serve
ourselves instead of serving God or serving others. Pride deceives us into
believing we do not need God. Instead we believe that we know what is best for
us. It causes us to compare ourselves with others in order to see ourselves as more
important or better than someone else in some way. Pride also causes us to be
boastful. We want to take pride and be acknowledged for our talents and
accomplishments. We want to believe that we are better than others. It makes us
feel good about ourselves. This is why it is so tempting. We can easily fall
into the sin of pride without even realizing it. Rather than taking pride in
ourselves, we are to be thankful to God who has blessed us in so many ways. In Luke 18:14, Christ reiterates a common theme throughout
the New Testament, "every one that
exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
When the Pharisees
rebuked Christ for visiting the homes of tax collectors and sinners, Jesus
answered them saying, “They that are whole need not a physician; but
they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31-32). What did Christ mean by the
“righteous?” No man has ever been righteous in the eyes of God. No man has ever
been sinless. Christ was referring to those who were “righteous” in their own
eyes, such as the Pharisees. They were hypocrites because they believed that
they were already upright men of God and did not need salvation. In their
pride, they were deceived into believing they were “good”. Their pride blinded
them to their own sinful natures, and therefore, they could not accept Christ
as the Son of God. They could not humble themselves to Jesus, who in their
minds was just a man like themselves. The more we are able to recognize
ourselves as sinners, the easier it is for us to receive God’s love. The more
aware we are of our sinful nature, the easier it is for us to humble ourselves
to God. The easier it is for us to seek God to help us, change us, and free us
from evil. Humility is necessary before we can even approach God.
The conflict
between pride and humility is actually the conflict between our own will and
God’s will. It is the conflict within ourselves, which manifests as a longing
to satisfy our own self-centered desires, instead of becoming selfless, instead
of acting in love. This is why Christ said that loving God and loving our
neighbors is all we must do to live up to God’s commandments. Love requires
that we deny our self-centeredness. Pride is actually an obstacle in our
ability to love unconditionally. By serving our own sinful passions and
desires, we are serving ourselves instead of serving God. In essence, by
serving ourselves, we love ourselves. Our “self” becomes our priority, and
therefore becomes our “god.” In that sense, we worship ourselves. The conflict
between good and evil is actually the conflict between who will receive our
love. Who will be the object of our love, God or ourselves? Who will be the priority
of our lives, God or ourselves? If we are to participate in a relationship with
God, we must learn how to avoid pride, and instead, become humble.
©
2018 Helen Kamenos All rights reserved
http://www.helenkamenos.com/
