Pride, is your sting still intact?

This has been one of the toughest weeks I have had in a long while. Hence, my late blog entry. From juggling work, school presentation for Easter, church drama, etc. Its one of those weeks where you know God was the only One who got you through it cause you could have never done this on your own. But it took my obedience to do it. There were points where I was disobedient and there were repercussions of my disobedience. And then, yet again I go, “I should have listened to His voice”. Yes our sins are forgiven when we repent, but there are consequences to our bad actions. We all deal with sins that get the better of us…..mine has been anger. One of the many wise things my father told me about anger is that the root of anger is pride (high opinion of oneself). So if you have anger in your heart, you have pride. Now if you look at me…..I MAY NOT seem like a prideful person (and yes, a quiet person can also be a prideful person)….but pride is very sneaky. Often you feel that you have a right to be angry, you refuse to see the opinion of your opposition, or you think that you are just right because you have read, heard and/or experienced it. There are many more to this list of prideful behaviour. Pride is so rampant…..EVERYWHERE! Lets be honest and call sin by its name (such as pride, anger, lust, rejection, etc.) and don’t give ourselves excuses!  Here is the painful truth….pride is most likened to self-righteousness. Yes, self-righteousness. Since this was the issue that I had to repent and surrender to the Lord, the Lord put it on my heart to read on it. Especially since it just kept popping up in my devotions after my dad spoke to me. Haha….thats what happens when God wants you to GET THE MESSAGE!

Just as Elizabeth Bennet in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice put it, “are you too proud, Mr. Darcy? And would you consider pride a fault or a virtue?” The Bible mostly talks about the bad of pride but there is also mention of us boasting in the strength of the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31, 2 Corinthians 10:17), boasting in the endeavors of other Christians (2 Corinthians 7:4) or boasting not in ourselves but in our weaknesses (2 Cor 12:5). So there is such a thing as good pride. But to know if it is good or bad you have to see who is exalted…..self or God. Good pride is when we boast in the Lord and the great things He does! Not us….Him! I always have a check in my spirit every time I unconsciously say something that exalts myself instead of God whether it comes to ministry or my personal life. It’s the Holy Spirit prompting me to check my heart. In my quiet time, I bring those issues before the Lord and repent. Its not an easy process when you do this in your own strength….you need to do it through the strength of the Lord. If not you will feel drained.

Honestly when I first began dealing with my pride, it took obedience. Saying sorry even when I didn’t feel like it or it was not purely my fault, humbling myself (even to my students or church youths) and admitting my faults even when you know the moment has passed, etc. But the more I deal with my pride with God’s help, I see strongholds broken. Cause here is the truth, I know my God hates pride….yes HATES! Its one of the seven things the Lord hates (Proverbs 6:16-17(a)). Jesus himself humbled himself to the point of death (Phil 2:8), yet we put ourselves before God, people we love, the people around us….just so that we don’t “lose face”. The Lord warns “let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches” (Jeremiah 9:23). I love this one, “although they claimed to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:22). When we boast in ourselves, our lack of knowledge may just prove that we are fools.

I am a Malaysian with Sri Lankan and Indian descent. Honestly, many Asians, in general, are very prideful people (I speak only of Asians cause I am one). The pride amongst Asians cause us to be racist against other races, undercurrents of hostility in our conversation, feelings of superioirity, etc. This causes division, hate and many other things. You may think pride is a small thing. But it will keep us from so much and will end up hurting people cause we are busy making ourselves feel and look better. In an article I read from Angie Lewis, she says that pride is why we begin arguments, treat people badly (due to arrogant pride), its an obstacle to our faith in Jesus (cause we think we can do it ourselves!), makes us self-righteous (like a pharisee), keeps us from admitting to our sin, blinds us to our own faults, keeps us from asking for help or advice, causes us to forget God, and it will be the reason for our downfall!! The Word of God says that ‘by pride comes nothing but strife’ (Proverbs 13:10). And sweetheart, if we believe God’s Word is true….we better learn now before we make all the mistakes stated above. Pride is the main reason for the fall of Lucifer who now is known as Satan! Pride is evil…..not something we should push aside.

I’m gonna make a statement that might offend, but I say it for the love I have for my fellow Christians. Many Christians, especially those in ministry (this includes me), are so prideful. So many times we put ourselves before God and that is the worst thing. We want to do great exploits that involve speaking on pulpits but we don’t have time to come humbly before the Lord and do His will and not our will. Stop talking about yourself  and the great things you do…..it has never been about you! That’s why we are called CHRIST-ians. Its about Christ. Not CHURCH-ians! 

Ever since I have started this study, I not only want to be humble but I also want my future husband to be a humble man. For us to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves” as we serve God together (Matthew 10:16). I pray you all join me in this decision to repent of pride everyday cause it is so encoded in our DNA. Pride - its sting is still intact….so call it by its name and uproot it and nail it to the cross. Ask God to break the curse of pride. It will be painful and sometimes you will cry but the freedom you get after is so worth it. This is my testimony :).

Be the amazing person you can be through Christ.

Be blessed and be a blessing xoxo.