“Your boast becomes a prophecy of a future failure. The higher you lift up yourself in pride, the harder you’ll fall in disgrace.”
Proverbs 16:18 TPT
Pride makes for a tall ladder, but not a sturdy one. What does that even mean? Pride is really good at lifting you up, but terrible at holding you there. Basically, pride can get the weight off the bar, and maybe even give you a rep or two, but anything more than that – you’re dropping it.
But you wouldn’t drop the weight if you had a spotter. Well, pride won’t let you ask for help because pride tells lies. I’m sorry, stories. Don’t want to offend anyone’s grandmother.
- They’ll think your weak.
- You’re strong enough to do it without them.
- It’s not that heavy.
- You don’t want to bother them.
- It’ll only take a second.
- I’m the only one capable of doing this.
Next thing you know, you’re lifting the weight off the bar, or you’re climbing this ladder on the side of your house, or you’re finishing the group project by yourself with a head full of lies and head full of pride – and what do you know – it works out! Yep.
Then you try it again, and again, 
Yes, you did oop. Pride strikes. It convinced you that you were strong enough, that they were against you, and that you didn’t need any help.
So, I thought having pride in your endeavors is a good thing? It is! The issue is like your mother used to say – too much of anything is bad. Pridefulness is the issue. Being full of pride is akin to being full of 💩.
As Proverbs states, boasting is the precursor to failure. The haughtiness is what leads to disaster. Excessive pride is like a balloon. A balloon is going to do what a balloon is going to do. But so will gravity. 🎈
That balloon is going to come down, one way or another. Even if it doesn’t have an audience. The balloon doesn’t check itself. It doesn’t stop for a fill up. It doesn’t survey the environment. It just goes higher and higher. But don’t you know that the devil is a liar.
How do you stop pride in its tracks?
- Recognize what pride is and the stories (lies) it tells.
- Accept help! They’re not trying to undermine your strength. They won’t think you’re weak because of it.
- Be humble. Think humble. Ask God, what does humility looks like in this situation? What is humility?
“Humility is the fruit of inner-security and wise maturity. To be humble is to be so sure sure of one’s self and one’s stature that one can forego calling excessive attention to one’s self and one’s status.”
That should stop pridefulness in its tracks, or at least slow down the train.
