Jeremiah 9:23 – Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise [man] glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty [man] glory in his might, let not the rich [man] glory in his riches:
The day we accept our faults and shortcomings, will be the day we begin to humble ourselves. Pride says I am without fault, pride tells us we have it all under control. Pride prevents us from saying we are sorry even when we are wrong. Pride gives us the false feeling that our lives are perfect and others lives are not. Pride prevents us from understanding that all the “things” we hold on to are meaningless and actually brings us no comfort. Pride replaces the knowledge to pray over children and to pray over our life. Pride is one of the many other enemies that seem to be our friend. Pride gives this false pretentious life that we live (seemingly) more meaning. Sigh- if only we could see exactly what Pride reduces us to. Pride has been like our BFF for so long that even when we begin to see that Pride means us no good, it is still hard to separate ourselves from it.
I can easily admit to experiencing some of what the bible has warned us about pride (yep, I am a Work In Progress), that wherever pride is, shame follows closely behind. That “proud-mess” prevents God from having an interaction with us, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. All of these things ring true and yet we hold on for dear life to our pride as it gives us a view from a mountaintop which tells us we are in control and that we are above those who we think are a threat to us. I have found out what is true – and that is, when we walk away despite our human nature telling us to rebel and carry on bad it is a “win win” situation for us. Especially for us who are trying to experience peace and joy in our lives.
So I am saying as hard as some situations might be, walk away. In the end, we will maintain our peace. In the end, situations will not escalate unnecessarily. In the end, we will understand that not everything requires a “false” champion, a “misled” champion, a champion to oneself. How does that help us? How does it help anyone? How does it help our world?
