THE GOOD NEWS MISSION

What is pride?

Pride

What does the Bible say about Pride?

There is a difference between the kind of pride God hates (Proverbs 8:13) and the kind of pride we feel for doing something well. The kind of pride that comes from being righteous in our own eyes is sin and God hates it because it gets in the way of our approach to Him. Psalm 10:4 explains that the proud are so full of themselves that their thoughts are far from God: In the pride of his countenance the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, "There is no God". That kind of arrogant pride is the opposite of the spirit of humility that God seeks: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). The "poor in spirit" are those who recognize their spiritual bankruptcy and their inability to draw near to God were it not for His divine grace. The proud, on the other hand, are so blinded by their pride that they think they do not need God or worse, that God must accept them the way they are because they deserve His acceptance.

Throughout the Scriptures, we can read about the consequences of pride. Proverbs 16:18-19 tells us: "ride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud". Satan was cast out of Heaven because of his pride (Isaiah 14:12-15). He had the selfish audacity to try to take God's place as the ruler of the universe. However, Satan will be cast into the lake of fire at God's final judgment. For those who rise up in rebellion to God, there is nothing in their future but disaster: "I will rise up against them, says the LORD of hosts, and will cut off from Babylon nameand remnant, offspring and posterity, says the Lord” (Isaiah 14:22).

Pride has already kept many people from accepting Jesus as their personal Savior. Refusing to admit our own sin and that we cannot do anything in our own efforts to earn eternal life has been a stumbling block for many people. We must not be proud of ourselves, but if we want to glory, then we must proclaim the glories of God. What we say about ourselves means nothing in God's work. It is what God says about us that makes the difference (2 Corinthians 10:13).

Why can pride be a sin?

Pride is giving ourselves credit for something God has done. Pride is giving ourselves the glory that belongs to God alone. Pride is, in essence, self-praise. Nothing we do in this world would be possible if it were not for God enabling and sustaining us. That is why we must give God the glory – because He alone is worthy to receive it.
Fonte: GotQuestions.org

What does Pride do?

  1. The proud does not recognize his mistakes and does not accept reproof. He does his best not to get noticed, and apparently it is because he does not want to displease or disappoint, but in reality he does not want to go through the humiliation of being corrected.
  2. The proud does not ask for help. And when you ask, it is because it is too late, when there is no turning back. She is already fallen into sin, she is already separating from her husband, she is already done what she should not.
  3. The proud does not ask for forgiveness. He may regret it, but he is not able to express his regret. It is very humiliating for him, he prefers to pretend nothing happened.
  4. The proud does not submit easily. He can even submit, but only to those who have authority over him. Many wives do not accept to submit to their husbands, sons and daughters do not accept to submit to their fathers, young people do not accept to submit to their elders, new ones do not accept to submit to more experienced ones.
  5. The proud likes his independence, in fact, he hates to depend on others. He likes to do everything himself so he does not have to say he needed someone later. They are independent even from God. They do not pray, they do not seek, they think they are self-sufficient.
  6. The proud wants everything his way, because he thinks he knows what is best, understands what is best, knows what is best. He does not want to know about God's will and insists, sometimes using "faith", that his way is the best. And when he does not receive what he asked of God, he rebels against Him, as if God were wrong.
  7. The proud likes to give his opinion in everything, he does not take shit home and does not hesitate to fight head-on to assert what he thinks is right.

>What is the symptom of Pride?

The proud person thinks he is always right and the others are wrong.

A person who is proud when criticized cannot absorb criticism well.

He cannot admit his mistake and, as a result, he cannot apologize naturally.

It is never open to change.

What is the opposite of Pride?

Pride is the opposite of: modesty, simplicity, humility.

What is negative pride?

Pride as Prejudice
There is a well known book (and movie) called "Pride and Prejudice". It is a classic of literature and expresses pride as a social prejudice. In summary, someone who has excellent financial conditions is proud of his social position and does not want to approach other classes, considered inferior or worse, as if his own body were running blue blood and not so noble blood in the body of others.

This kind of feeling really pervades many people who consider themselves noble and unattainable because they have assets or bank accounts with many digits. This is even more evident in people who are heirs and, as in Fernando Pessoa's poem, "they have done nothing and are rich…" because whoever built the heritage, whether the generation of parents or grandparents, will usually have a closer feeling of the first kind of pride, at having come out of nowhere and marveling at having made it so far.

Pride as a grudge
Well, this is probably the most negative kind of pride of all, as it feels like the kind of situation where a guy carries a lot of weight on the bills and continues to carry the big weight on his back for almost no reason, just to keep carrying the weight. in the accounts, as they say, out of pride.

For example, and this is a phenomenon that always appears in the office, the person has a boyfriend or girlfriend. The couple fight and break up. In order not to give an arm to hope, to not admit that he was wrong or to not have to get rid of his pose of always being right, the person cannot apologize, or ask for forgiveness, or even get back to having a reasonable conversation to get back into the relationship.

>What is positive pride?

The most positive aspect of pride is pride as an admiration. When someone says: "I am very proud of you for having done this" the meaning of the word pride is linked to admiration for the deed, for the achievement, for the ability to accomplish. We can say that it is positive, in the sense that this type of feeling helps in social relationships and can also make people strive to reach their maximum potential.

Parents and children, coaches and their pupils, teachers and students can thus establish a form of reinforcement based on pride. For example, a student can study more, much more, and do very well on a test because he expects to measure up to the assessment of his teacher, who considers him exceptional. Thus, he gives more of himself to receive praise, to do the other well, to be admired.