Not only is this the title of a J. Cole song, the title holds true. The song goes into the plethora of ways that our pride end up placing us in situations we don't even have to be in. Or better yet some of the situations that people are in are precisely because they let pride control their actions. As I went through this week I realized that I've been dealing with a little bit of pride myself. Ironically the first thing that popped into my head as I became aware that my pride was holding me back from making certain decisions, I heard clearly in the tune of J. Cole "pride is the devil." The book of Proverbs talks a lot about pride and the effects of it. Proverbs 16:18 says "Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall." This is distinctly stating that if your heart is in a prideful posture it's not long before corruption makes way into your life and your situation.
One thing that I love about myself is how self-aware I am. I usually notice when I'm feeling a certain way and why I'm feeling that way. I also find myself doing great at being honest with myself too. However one thing I'm working on is the processing of when I'm wrong. I will gladly accept when I'm wrong or have made error, but my feeling and reaction after it sometimes has pride mixed in with it. Pride has made me isolate myself for no reason other than simply not wanting to be wrong and the slight shame that comes with being wrong. I've come to learn that I can be pretty hard on myself at times. Pride has allowed me to make impulsive decisions without consulting God which can be a dangerous thing. Pride has also literally allowed me to be upset at someone else for the outcome of my actions. Simply because I couldn't handle the embarrassment of my actions. Isn't that crazy? Proverbs 11:2 says that "When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom."
If there's one thing that I love about God it's His gentle correction. God could have easily let me fall hard in my pride and misunderstandings, but He gently revealed to me myself and where I was/am flawed. He didn't badger me about it, He simply showed me what the root of the problem was in certain areas of my life and it all boiled down to pride. I now can use that for growth and work on sending pride on its way.
Today I want to challenge you to think about some areas of growth for yourself and ask God to reveal to you the root of that thing you need to grow from.
My prayer today is that we all take the opportunity to jump for growth. I pray that we get to a place where we can easily let go of our pride, shame, stubbornness and anything else that has caused us to live in a way that is not conducive to our growth or where God wants us to be. I pray that God's gentle correction will be a guide to awareness and growth and that everyday we will work hard to become the best version of ourselves.
With love,
-Yours Truly, Eb
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