Pride can get you into a lot of trouble. It can hurt in many ways and many people, not just you. The sooner you learn to deal with pride, the better off you and everyone around you will be.
What is pride? It is when you aren’t willing to let someone else be in control, right or win. Another way to work at it is when you are hard headed. Pride is also when you feel you are happy you have possessions others don’t have or because yours are better than others you know or are around. Psalm 52:7 says, “Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!” (NIV)
Pride gets in the way of our personal walk with Christ. It hurts various relationships, including marriages, families, work and friendships. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” (NIV). This will end up being what will happen when you let pride take over your life. No one is exempt from pride. Any and all humans need to watch for pride, because we are all going to have a run in with it. It means working hard to not let pride take over, but is not easy to keep away.
To keep pride away it means making sure you are always keeping an eye out for what usually causes pride in your life. It may even mean having an accountability partner to help keep you in line. This person can be your spouse or even someone who you know has been dealing with the same type of pride as well. A lot of it depends on the type of pride you are experiencing and it is best if your spouse is your partner, as they are with you quite a bit of time. Allowing them to know what may cause you to fall into pride will help them know what to stay away from or even how to handle things that come your way.
When you are willing to ask for forgiveness of your pride life can turn around. For example 2 Chronicles 32:26 says, “Then Hezekiah repented of the pride of his heart, as did the people of Jerusalem; therefore the LORD’s wrath did not come on them during the days of Hezekiah.” It may seem like life is easier when we let pride rule, but it doesn’t. It hurts those we love because they feel they are not able to do as well as you. They may feel inadequate about things if you are always prideful about what you have, what you can do.
When you can let pride go, not only will you feel better, but so will those around you. They will feel like they can talk to you, enjoy your company, play games and just have a good time. Some cases you might need to seek out a professional Christian Counselor to help with a prideful life.
