Permitted Pride

"Pride is ever the deceiver. With it, we become vulnerable to our old offenses and wounds and then permit ourselves to make assumptions, agreements, and judgments based on nothing resembling truth."

This concept has been rolling around in my brain a lot this year...most unfortunately because of some pretty icky situations. BUT...it has also been a good check to evaluate myself. Why?...well, it's so very easy to respond to pride with pride (and excuse it in ourselves while judging it in others). So unacceptable. 

It is so true though...pride is a dangerous thing! A serious sin that the church in America would rather leave unaddressed. In fact, it seems we would rather spend our energies on making sure we really nail people with the sins we don't think we have to distract from the ones that are close to home. 

But pride is likely the most dangerous of all. It is the grand deceiver. It will puff us up to irrational images of self. It will permit us egregious judgments of others. It will manipulate us to actions we would, in humility, never consider. 

We need to get serious about it. Why?...because "pride goes before a fall". Yep, it's true. God, in His goodness towards us, doesn't want us lost in pride. Lost in polluted identity and purpose. He will allow us to fall because of it if we so choose. He will give so many invitations along life's way to acknowledge it and turn around, and He will be faithful to meet us in our "splat". Sigh. 

So...time for self-reflection. No more permitted strongholds of pride.