Pride's subtle effects
Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get. Luke 18:10-12
While pride is a grievous sin, it can also appear to be very subtle. Pride breeds other negative traits such as self-justification, seeking validation from others and God, self-sufficiency, and other ranges such as unworthiness, inferiority and insecurity.
One interesting acronym I found with pride is P, R, which stands for Personal Reputation; the other side, divided by "I", is D, E, which stands for devalued estimation (or false humility). Pride can take two forms: inflating egos to boost personal reputations or deflating egos to self-absorbed about negative things. But it always boils down to "focus on ourselves and forget God".
When we focus on ourselves, we become focused on our works and forget that “Everything good comes from God ”. As an example, we attribute all good things, such as health, financial success, relationships, even spirituality, to our own effort. Pride says “because I am disciplined, good to people, spiritual, etc ”. As humans, we tend to credit ourselves when we succeed, but the reality is that God' grace gives us all of these good things. Without his grace and goodness in the first place, we are literally nothing.
In today's key verse, the Pharisees boast about all these good works and expect God's approval and look down on others. This pattern begins with self-justification to justify our good works and then pride tempts us to compare ourselves to others and puff ourselves up if we are superior. A good quote states, “Pride doesn't get pleasure from having something, only from having more of it than the next man.” When there is no competition or comparison, pride can't exist.
There is another "spectrum" of pride that is often mixed with false humility, which is self-degradation or self-condemnation. Isn't the Bible encouraging us to be "poor in spirit" like the tax collector felt remorse in the key verse? The essence is not forgetting God and not over-focusing on ourselves ”. Using an example, a suicidal person is too focused on problems and issues, forgetting that God is big enough to solve the problems.
Finally, when people experience unworthiness and self-pity, they want others to validate their misfortune as a way of seeking people's affirmation. This could be an example of "unrecognized pride." Let us focus more on God and less on ourselves, relinquish all judgment to ourselves and others, and remember that all good things come from God.
Blessing prayer: You must increase but I must decrease; help us never lose sight of you but keep our eyes on you. In Jesus' name, Amen
