Pride comes before the Fall

And it's true. Lucifer, that proud, beautiful being who lived under God, certainly fell. He fell a long, long way. Somehow he ended up talking his way into Eve's head in that Garden one day, and weaving his little tale about being above God, knowing what God knows, and being as powerful as God. It's ironic, actually, that Eve fell victim to the same tendency to pride that Lucifer has. And all throughout human history, pride is a recurring issue. Pride is probably one of the most self-destructive emotions we can feel. Pride goes against God's divine purpose because as we become proud, we lose sight of what God really is in relation to us, or, more importantly, we lose sight of just who we are in relation to God and consequently we lose our close relationship with Him. We inflate ourselves because of our bodies, because of our minds, because of how witty we are or how important we are in our community and circle of friends. As we start to build ourselves up, we lose sight of God. We become so obsessed with being attractive, smart, funny, important, and popular that we forget that without God we are nothing. 

In the emergency of discovering a pimple right in the center of our noses that throws off our beauty, we forget that God created the heavens and the earth in a single breath. In the panic of noticing the extra pound or two that will impact the fit of our clothes, we forget that the stars were almost an afterthought for God ("and the stars also"). In the excitement of getting that one special guy or girl to notice us, we forget that God pulled a rib from the man he created and from it made a woman. In the moment of scorn that we feel when the person next to us messes up, we forget that Jesus died a horrific death for that person. 

not only did he die a horrific death for that person, but for every murderer and child rapist in the world. And for us. Jesus died a horrific death for those of us who see ourselves as near perfect, who have never committed the "big" sins, who never ran away from home, who achieved good grades, who never stayed out past curfew and always said please and thank you. Of course, in that moment of scorn we feel that of course He died for me, I'm the good one. I'm the one who should be died for. I'm the one who can control myself where clearly this person can't.

The Bible warns us to take care of the log in our own eye before we can consider the splinter in someone else's. It always confused me that the Bible would assume that my problem was bigger than anyone else's. Why did mine have to be the log? Why couldn't mine be the splinter? And honestly, how does a log get into someone's eye in the first place? I think the point here is that no matter how perfectly you think you're living your life, God's version of perfect will always be out of reach for us. We can always help each other and build each other up by using Godly criticism, but the second we set ourselves above anyone else by assuming that their sin is worse than ours, God is thrown out of the window and perfection becomes skewed. 

The sad thing is that I never really thought about pride being an issue for me. It hit me really hard when I realized that I had a proud heart. And that's ironic because in assuming that I wasn't proud, I became proud of my humility. In my mind I had risen above all the poor shmucks who struggled with it. I have always been the goody two shoes. I have always brought home good grades, come home before curfew, and had all of the answers in school. I have never yelled at my parents or run away from home, and the single most rebellious thing that I've done was wear mismatched clothes. Yeah. Ask my mom about it, that was my rebellious phase. So my whole life I've been the good kid, and as such, I've developed a habit of seeing those around me in the light of my upbringing. As my classmates and friends argued with their parents, I judged. As they flunked a test that I aced, I judged. As I heard stories of parties and drinking and drugs, my eyebrows were raised in Christian disbelief, and I judged. My type of pride is more insidious than the type that comes from having a pretty face or a nice body. My pride is sneakier than that. My pride is buried under Christianese words and values, and dressed up in the frills of the knowledge that I'm walking on the straight and narrow path (the "holier-than-thou" mentality). It's exactly how Satan works because it's in the middle of truth. Yes, I'm saved from an eternity of hell. Yes, I get to see my Savior when I die. Yes, I'm covered by Jesus' innocent and perfect blood. However, I had nothing to do with that. I am as much of a sinner as everyone else. I have as much dirt on me as the next person, if not more. I was just blessed enough to accept the free gift that God offers His beloved creation. How can I look with scorn at my neighbor when I was dead in sin once too? The feeling in my heart shouldn't be scorn or pride, but love. "But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection." (Colossians 3:14).

Good thing God offers mercy and forgiveness to those who sin, because I have sinned. I can't get through a day without sinning. The consolation I have is more than I deserve: "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! (1 John 3:1a) I, and all of those who have taken Jesus as their Savior and God as their Father, get to rest in the knowledge that we are made perfect through God's love and Jesus' sacrifice. Every day is new. Pride dies here.

God bless :)