Pride is one of those things that seems like it can be a good thing on the surface-- Military Pride; Proud of our Child graduating High School with honors, etc..
It is not wrong to be proud of someone else for cleaning their room, for example, but it is wrong when we take too much pride in our accomplishments.
Think about baseball cards.. These men have their faces on the front, and their statistics on the back--they are proud of themselves. But first of all, this is taking the gifts that God has bestowed upon that man, and taking the credit for yourself. The Bible declares that pride cometh before a fall. (Here is a link with 30 Scriptures referring to pride)
Another problem with pride is that it keeps us from humbling ourselves and submitting to a higher authority.
Please allow a little folly from me and listen to this real-life example of pride keeping someone from submission:
This is a true story about a boxer named Riddick Bowe, who became Heavyweight Champion of the World by defeating Evander Holyfield and successfully defended his belt(s) 2 times.
The man had it all, including pride.
He decided to join the Marine Corps.
I've seen this time and time again while working in Joint units with Marines--some you can tell joined only to prove it to themselves (or some girl back home) that they could do it. Others are just good Marines who wanted to serve their country.
Many people mistakenly think that the Military or the Marine Corps especially, is simply physical toughness-- I mean he was the world champ, why shouldn't he be able to become a Marine?
Well, long story short, he quit after 11 days, or 3 days depending on whether you believe the Wikipedia account or this article from the Washington Post , but the biggest thing about the Military or anything tough in the Military is not physical-- everyone can master that part (well nearly everyone).. It's the mental toughness, as well as the ability to submit to authority.
Some men (and women) simply cannot submit to authority, and they will not bow. They are too prideful to submit to another grown man-- they see this as (submission) as being weak.
He thought he was going to go in there and to 50 pull ups and an obstacle course and become a U.S. Marine. But what really happened it that he couldn't handle someone with hat brim pushing into his forehead calling him every name in the book.
My wife makes me laugh, after I earned my blood wings in Air Assault school, she made the remark one time that she too could complete Air Assault School (Sometimes referred to as "The Ten Toughest Days in the Army". At the time, she was training to be a fitness intstructor... I watched many Marines and many Army Rangers wash out of Air Assault school because they could not submit. Not only to the brutality, and the mind-games, but they could not humble their pride when the 'shark-attack' happens (that's when about 4 or 5 Instructors are yelling at you at the same time, causing you to question why you decided to put yourself through this. The Sabalauski Air Assault School is a mixture of 3 things: Physical toughness (rappelling 90 feet out of a Black Hawk Helicopter, climbing ropes, fast roping, an obstacle course from hell on zero-day, culminating in a 12 mile ruck-march in less than 3 hours with a 75 pound pack and holding a rifle on the 10th day, graduation day. , Mental toughness (not quitting when you feel like quitting) and thirdly, there is a learning portion where you must study and memorize book material so that you can learn how to make sling-loads, correctly hook up fuel blivets (tanks) to a helicopter that is hovering over your head--giving hand and arm signals to guide the pilot, creating a safe landing zone, calling in a 9-line medevac should something go wrong, I could go on and on-- but suffice it to say, it is NOT just physical you could say it is a nice mix of brains and braun--and any stud who is in great shape that thinks he could waltz through Air Assault School has a rude surprise waiting for him at 4am on zero day.
This is the problem with pride--if you cannot submit to authority, then you are weak. Plain and simple, though Riddick Bowe had much success, and became heavyweight champ, and defended his title twice, he could not handle another man saying "What's the matter? You miss your mommy?" So he quit. He was not Marine material.
The Military way is to break a man down completely, and build him back up through discipline and training. Not break him down so that he is destroyed, or demoralized, but to build character in that man to be able to handle any and every situation.
But pride is a sin because it keeps one from submission to authority--namely God the Father. Plainly put: Pride is a sin because it is a barrier to submission. Pride means you have sufficiency in yourself-- but to use the Military analogy again, we learn that you can't do it alone, you must have a highly trained team.
Atheists are used to being their own boss in this life-- and the thought of having to adhere to acceptable limits (as Jefferey Dahmer was quoted) sounds asinine if there is no God to "report to".
Pride in one's own capabilities is a crippling hindrance to submission to authority. And you may be thinking "Yeah but I submit to my boss in the civilian world" Yeah but does your civilian boss call you a fat axe? And does he dump a shredder full of paper on your head because you forgot to empty it last night (true story--it happened to my son who did 6 years in the Army and a tour in Iraq).
And I understand many atheists have completed the Military, and joined the Marine Corps and passed Air Assault-- but this was analogy about Riddick Bowe who thought the Marines was pure physical-- The guy was rock-solid, but he couldn't find it within himself to humble himself before another man--so how can he humble himself before God?
Anyone who has become a Marine, or an Army Ranger, or something demanding like that, is way tougher than Riddick Bowe will ever be.
Are you a Riddick Bowe? Will you let pride keep you from submitting to the authority that God has earned? Or will you quit because you cannot bow your knee and say the words?
It is not wrong to be proud of someone else for cleaning their room, for example, but it is wrong when we take too much pride in our accomplishments.
Think about baseball cards.. These men have their faces on the front, and their statistics on the back--they are proud of themselves. But first of all, this is taking the gifts that God has bestowed upon that man, and taking the credit for yourself. The Bible declares that pride cometh before a fall. (Here is a link with 30 Scriptures referring to pride)
Another problem with pride is that it keeps us from humbling ourselves and submitting to a higher authority.
Please allow a little folly from me and listen to this real-life example of pride keeping someone from submission:
This is a true story about a boxer named Riddick Bowe, who became Heavyweight Champion of the World by defeating Evander Holyfield and successfully defended his belt(s) 2 times.
The man had it all, including pride.
He decided to join the Marine Corps.
I've seen this time and time again while working in Joint units with Marines--some you can tell joined only to prove it to themselves (or some girl back home) that they could do it. Others are just good Marines who wanted to serve their country.
Many people mistakenly think that the Military or the Marine Corps especially, is simply physical toughness-- I mean he was the world champ, why shouldn't he be able to become a Marine?
Well, long story short, he quit after 11 days, or 3 days depending on whether you believe the Wikipedia account or this article from the Washington Post , but the biggest thing about the Military or anything tough in the Military is not physical-- everyone can master that part (well nearly everyone).. It's the mental toughness, as well as the ability to submit to authority.
Some men (and women) simply cannot submit to authority, and they will not bow. They are too prideful to submit to another grown man-- they see this as (submission) as being weak.
He thought he was going to go in there and to 50 pull ups and an obstacle course and become a U.S. Marine. But what really happened it that he couldn't handle someone with hat brim pushing into his forehead calling him every name in the book.
My wife makes me laugh, after I earned my blood wings in Air Assault school, she made the remark one time that she too could complete Air Assault School (Sometimes referred to as "The Ten Toughest Days in the Army". At the time, she was training to be a fitness intstructor... I watched many Marines and many Army Rangers wash out of Air Assault school because they could not submit. Not only to the brutality, and the mind-games, but they could not humble their pride when the 'shark-attack' happens (that's when about 4 or 5 Instructors are yelling at you at the same time, causing you to question why you decided to put yourself through this. The Sabalauski Air Assault School is a mixture of 3 things: Physical toughness (rappelling 90 feet out of a Black Hawk Helicopter, climbing ropes, fast roping, an obstacle course from hell on zero-day, culminating in a 12 mile ruck-march in less than 3 hours with a 75 pound pack and holding a rifle on the 10th day, graduation day. , Mental toughness (not quitting when you feel like quitting) and thirdly, there is a learning portion where you must study and memorize book material so that you can learn how to make sling-loads, correctly hook up fuel blivets (tanks) to a helicopter that is hovering over your head--giving hand and arm signals to guide the pilot, creating a safe landing zone, calling in a 9-line medevac should something go wrong, I could go on and on-- but suffice it to say, it is NOT just physical you could say it is a nice mix of brains and braun--and any stud who is in great shape that thinks he could waltz through Air Assault School has a rude surprise waiting for him at 4am on zero day.
This is the problem with pride--if you cannot submit to authority, then you are weak. Plain and simple, though Riddick Bowe had much success, and became heavyweight champ, and defended his title twice, he could not handle another man saying "What's the matter? You miss your mommy?" So he quit. He was not Marine material.
The Military way is to break a man down completely, and build him back up through discipline and training. Not break him down so that he is destroyed, or demoralized, but to build character in that man to be able to handle any and every situation.
But pride is a sin because it keeps one from submission to authority--namely God the Father. Plainly put: Pride is a sin because it is a barrier to submission. Pride means you have sufficiency in yourself-- but to use the Military analogy again, we learn that you can't do it alone, you must have a highly trained team.
Atheists are used to being their own boss in this life-- and the thought of having to adhere to acceptable limits (as Jefferey Dahmer was quoted) sounds asinine if there is no God to "report to".
Pride in one's own capabilities is a crippling hindrance to submission to authority. And you may be thinking "Yeah but I submit to my boss in the civilian world" Yeah but does your civilian boss call you a fat axe? And does he dump a shredder full of paper on your head because you forgot to empty it last night (true story--it happened to my son who did 6 years in the Army and a tour in Iraq).
And I understand many atheists have completed the Military, and joined the Marine Corps and passed Air Assault-- but this was analogy about Riddick Bowe who thought the Marines was pure physical-- The guy was rock-solid, but he couldn't find it within himself to humble himself before another man--so how can he humble himself before God?
Anyone who has become a Marine, or an Army Ranger, or something demanding like that, is way tougher than Riddick Bowe will ever be.
Are you a Riddick Bowe? Will you let pride keep you from submitting to the authority that God has earned? Or will you quit because you cannot bow your knee and say the words?
