I hope you have a healthy pride in who you are and in your gifts and talents. You my friend are the only you and you can celebrate that. But many people allow their pride to become unhealthy. We find a wise warning in the book of Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.”
We don’t use words like haughty much these days, but look at Webster’s definition: having or showing the insulting attitude of people who think that they are better, smarter, or more important than other people… The picture painted for us here is of a person whose world revolves around them at the expense of others. They fail to see that others are of great importance. They worship the trinity of stupidity, Me, Myself & I. The long term results are catastrophic.
It’s Labor Day. I just took a drive to Staple’s to get an ink cartridge for our printer. Schools open tomorrow…can we all say stupid. I walked in and the lines were loooong. The cartridge can wait… out the door…back in the car. On the way home listening to the radio, I heard a former governor speaking about his new book. He made the most arrogant statement about himself, and I said out loud, “what a jerk.” And then I thought, “have I ever been an arrogant jerk?” Yes I have.
So what’s the solution for unhealthy pride? It begins by humbling ourselves. Humility cures pride. Removing one’s ego frees us to serve others. To be a great leader, great spouse, great parent, humility is key.
Jesus put it this way, For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
EGO = Easing God Out – Depak Chopra
It’s interesting how some people can’t cherish, appreciate,or even recognize the diverse and extremely important talents of other people. Talents and qualities that they themselves could never possess, but the world would be not nearly as rich ,lively and interesting without. Imagine no painters, singers, carpenters, or inventors. It’s easy to be humbled by human talent of all kinds.