Dealing with Pride

You know, I never really thought about how much a foot injury can do for a man's heart. I know this phrase may sound weird to some of you. Biologically our foot is a long way from our heart. Sure it is connected by a series of arteries and veins that cycle blood to the foot and back, but this is not the connection that I am referring to. This past weekend, I was in the process of helping my sister move out of her house. Like always, we started with the big, heavy, and awkward items to get them packed and save the easy stuff for last. Well, on my way out the front door, I missed a step while carrying a couple of boxes in my hand. The popping sounds in my foot resonated to my ear as pain shot across my foot and up my leg. I hit the ground pretty hard, however I did not notice any pain from my landing. All I could think about was my foot. Was it broken? Was it sprained? What am I going to do if I cannot walk? I began to get angry at myself for being foolish. How could I have possibly missed that step. As many times as I went in or out of that house, why now? I also started lashing out on those around me. I would tell them that I could do things myself, and that I did not need any help. I began to understand that I couldn't and became even more upset. I was letting my pride get the best of me.

Proverbs 29:22-23
"An angry man stirs up strife,
And a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.
A man’s pride will bring him low,
But a humble spirit will obtain honor."

Pride can be a dangerous thing to deal with. With pride comes anger. As was I when, I did not want others to help me when I was in need. As the scripture here in proverbs reads that anger causes strife. Strife being defined as vigorous or bitter conflict, discord, or antagonism. All of this conflict leads to being easily embittered. It causes our tempers to be enraged easily. In the scripture above, we see this causes us to fall into sin. All of this because of pride. Pride is not something that we come across from God.

1John 2:16
"For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world."

Pride is something that has to be dealt with. Proverbs 29:23 tells us that a humble spirit will obtain honor. Sometimes it is not the easiest thing to do. But we must make and effort to be humble. Because if we look at all the things in our life to try to make ourselves look worthy, it will never be good enough. We rely on the sacrifice of Christ. His death is the only thing that makes a way for us to God. Not the things that we do.

2 Corinthians 5:21
"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

Will we ever experience times when our pride can get in our way? Of course we will. But what we need to do is control it. We need to work hard to keep ourselves humble. Humility is not feeling sorry for oneself, but a hidden power that we have. It gives us the ability to receive the blessing in our time of need. I don't know why I had to fall when I did. But I do know that God had a purpose for it. Everything that He does, He does to help me grow. Maybe it was for me to learn this lesson on pride. And if so, I think He got His point across to me.

Thanks for reading, and God Bless You all this week!