Ok so before you all discount this talk just by the title I want you to just take a look at it anyway. Besides, if you are feeling guilty about it already, it is probably a good thing for you to read...haha. The title of the talk I am going to share with you is "Beware of Pride." Surprisingly, it was not as harsh as I was expecting it to be.
It starts off by warning us of pride and telling us of the destroying power it has. There are three parts I want to quote near the begining that say, “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man…It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.” (C.S. Lewis), "The proud stand more in fear of men’s judgment than of God’s judgment. 'What will men think of me?' weighs heavier than 'What will God think of me?'" and "Pride is ugly. It says, 'If you succeed, I am a failure.'" He goes into depth about these statements, but they all hit home with me by saying how when we are prideful we forget God. It's really as simple as that.
The best part of this talk is when he talks about humility. He says the antidote for pride is humility, meekness, and submissiveness. It is the broken heart and contrite spirit. A common misconception is that to be humble you have to be able to put yourself down, but in reality, “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” (C.S. Lewis) Now, I don't want you all to think that you are awful people, because if you are anything like me you probably thought you were the most prideful person on the earth. (There is even pride in thinking that...haha) However, I do want you to understand how destructive pride can be and how you can reverse it. I really love this video on unselfish service, which teaches me how to be more humble through service.
It starts off by warning us of pride and telling us of the destroying power it has. There are three parts I want to quote near the begining that say, “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man…It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.” (C.S. Lewis), "The proud stand more in fear of men’s judgment than of God’s judgment. 'What will men think of me?' weighs heavier than 'What will God think of me?'" and "Pride is ugly. It says, 'If you succeed, I am a failure.'" He goes into depth about these statements, but they all hit home with me by saying how when we are prideful we forget God. It's really as simple as that.
The best part of this talk is when he talks about humility. He says the antidote for pride is humility, meekness, and submissiveness. It is the broken heart and contrite spirit. A common misconception is that to be humble you have to be able to put yourself down, but in reality, “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” (C.S. Lewis) Now, I don't want you all to think that you are awful people, because if you are anything like me you probably thought you were the most prideful person on the earth. (There is even pride in thinking that...haha) However, I do want you to understand how destructive pride can be and how you can reverse it. I really love this video on unselfish service, which teaches me how to be more humble through service.
I want you all to think of what things you can do to help get rid of your prideful desires. "Let us choose to be humble. We can do it. I know we can."
This is one of my absolute favorite talks.
ReplyDeleteIt's just enough of a reminder in moments where I'm being too hard on myself or someone else that I realize....that's a prideful thought...get rid of it!
Isn't it so crazy how easily we can see the pride in others but very rarely in ourselves?
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