Pride, the reason why Lucifer was thrown out of heaven.
Pride, the reason you feel offended when someone doesn’t acknowledge your presence.
Pride, the reason you feel you deserve to hear ‘i’m sorry’, rather than say it.
See the devil being the devil knows pride inside and out, he knows that we know that pride isn’t good, so most of the time its so subtle we don’t even realise we are being proud, which then makes it a trap to us.
When it comes to the pride trap, SELF is its biggest FACILITATOR.
When the world beats us down from so many different corners ..we feel the immediate need to fight back, even when we don’t always have the strength we need.. but those times when we think we do have the strength.. we sometimes fall into this very subtle pride trap where we think we have done it of our own strength or of our own wisdom. When it came to my skin, I often felt like I had gone through so much prior to my skin changing. I had also just gone through another massive change and although my mental well-being and thought process around it wasn’t it’s best yet, I still felt strong enough to put on a smile here and there, and some that knew me always said I was very strong. Most of the time I therefore felt that I must be really strong…in Jer 9:23 the bible say “let not…the strong boast of their strength”
Most times I felt like I was so different and so I didn’t know how or understood how to genuinely thank God for that difference, I just didn’t see God or acknowledge Him in what was going on around me and with my skin. In psalm 10:4 its says , “in his pride, the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God”. I gradually fell into my own pride trap, cos everyday that I managed to wake up with a smile on my face or on the right side of the bed, it wouldn’t occur to me that the smile was not of my own ability, it wasn’t of my own doing. I had somehow found a way to credit myself for whatever little joy I might’ve had, and gradually being joyful became a chore, because I forgot to thank the giver of the joy, and was now striving to keep myself joyful.
Pride, the preoccupation/fixation with self.
It was exhausting to say the least. See the devil being corny knows the different ways he can slip pride in. For me it was mental and rooted in the difference I felt with my skin and how I wanted to feel good about it by all means possible, of my own strength. For some, it may have to do with a gift from God, for others it may have to do with what they own, or how they treat people. I felt very justified in saying, “well it’s my skin, it’s my flaw, no one can understand, no one can be my source of joy”. It was ME, MYSELF AND I; and although I was very quick to rightly say I shouldn’t depend on anyone to be joyful, I was very slow to realise that I couldn’t depend on myself either for that joy.
In all honesty, I knew the least about joy, and little did I know that the more I allowed this thought process to grow within me the less joyful I was. Some days I was so sad I couldn’t understand it… there was no reason.. no one or thing making me sad.. but I just couldn’t shake off the sadness. It took me a while to see the hand of God in my life even so much as on my skin, but when I did, I was liberated. I realised that the journey I was on was not of my own leading , I didn’t know the route, or the reason and all I had to do was ASK… and ASK AGAIN .. and AGAIN… TILL I KNEW AND FELT GOD WORKING THROUGH ME. Thank God life isn’t like Duke of Edinburg gold.
See, one thing we must make sure of is that, we do not allow the call ( purpose) of God upon us – that one thing that makes us unique or special – to become an invitation to entitlement and/or selfishness… because it is a call to selflessness and service, diligence and devotion… perseverance and patience… It’s one thing to definitely add to our DAILY prayer points, that “the self confidence that God is trying to build up in us, won’t be the exact thing that would push us far from him, and from his presence and purpose for us”.
Pride, the beginning of downfall. (prov 16:18, 18 :12 )
From Josh 1:9 .. In the KJV version it says.. “be strong and be of GOOD COURAGE”… I thought to myself, is there bad courage… the answer I got was yes… I thought that was interesting.. so I checked the GNT version and it says be determined and CONFIDENT… so GOOD COURAGE = CONFIDENCE, BAD COURAGE definitely would = PRIDE.
Theres one story in the bible in the book of Esther that I saw a contrast in courage type during my devotion today… see in this story, there are two queens we need to take note of… one Vasthi, who stopped being queen for another, Esther. They both had courage.. but different types, Vasthi, had Bad courage (pride/self ) which lost her her royalty while Esther had GOOD COURAGE (confidence… in God and Prayers) and both of these queens lived different lives.. one ended in downfall (just like in Dan 5:20) whilst the other in uplifting (just like in James 4:10)… But they both had courage…
A question to ask ourselves is this, when we face challenges and difficulties.. and trials and test, because that’s just life, which courage do we tap into? Cos yes we can all be courageous… but let’s be mindful of what type; its either good courage or bad courage. In 1 peter 5:5 the bible say “clothe yourself in humility”, and in James 4:6, the bible says God favours the humble.. let humility be the one thing we pray for the most.
Let us remember to always be grateful in humility, for the bad, the okay, the good, the great and the fabulous. Cos your worse could be someone else’s best.
Speckled Lamb 