Doves On Distant Oaks

The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Pride

We often think the first sin was committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden, which was disobedience, coupled with their failure to ask forgiveness. But their sin was strictly how sin entered the world. There was a sin that preceded them—the real first sin. It was the sin of pride by Lucifer when he felt he was equal to God.

Perhaps it was pride and not disobedience that Adam and Eve first committed as well. If we consider that Satan convinced Eve that "she would not die" by eating the forbidden fruit, it was at that point disobedience began to flare up in her; it was something she hadn't felt up to that point. Who knows how long Adam and Eve lived in the garden before that. The Bible is silent on that. Obviously, to eat the fruit and thereby disobey God, Eve must have thought God was wrong and therefore she was "smarter" than God. That sounds like pride to me. In fact, pride may be the father of all sin.

And yet, isn't pride a driving force in all of our accomplishments? In fact, at times, isn’t it the only thing that sustains our efforts? It’s pride in doing something good, or righteous, or the correct way that continues to fuel us when we receive no recompense, no accolades, no notoriety. That's because we often labor in private and need pride to nourish our efforts.

It’s only human to feel pride in what we do, and God has made us uniquely fitted to perform each task according to His wishes. We are even proud when the Lord is served. So, is pride such a bad thing?

When I looked up pride in the dictionary, I was surprised to find that in every instance, when pride encapsulated a positive quality, it could also result in a negative one. Self-esteem and self-respect, both required for good mental health, can lead to conceit and disdain of others. Delight in an act or relationship, also good and even necessary, can lead to ostentatious displays and idolatry.

The truth is we have no bragging rights to the things we accomplish, because all things are done for God's benefit. Every act is approved by the judgment of God, sustained by the actions of God, and accomplished within the dominion of God. So, all glory belongs to God. Understanding that, C.S. Lewis told us in Mere Christianity:

A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.

Still, God built pride into us for a reason. Pride can be good—no, necessary—but only in small doses. Every act we do is a gift that we should be happy about and take some level of pride in, but we must remember to give God the glory for our gifts and abilities. That way we remain constantly wary that pride does not take a foothold in our lives. It's what Satan uses to lead us more deeply into sin … like the proverbial frog being slowly boiled to death.

I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—this is the gift of God.

– Ecclesiastes 3:12-13

Keywords: Conceit, Pride, Self-esteem

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