Scripture: Psalm 131:1-3
Journal: Where and how does pride manifest itself most in your life? What is at the root of it? How do you fight it?
Reflection:
“My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty,” say the words of the ancient prayer.
Which lets us know, in no uncertain terms, that pride is one of the
biggest enemies of the spiritual life.
That’s because pride, when present within and among us, occupies a
significant amount of our inner space.
Thus, when we are filled with pride, we are so full of ourselves that
there is no room for God’s Spirit to move and to act. Our eyes become so consumed with ourselves
that we can’t really see him. There is
no way for our souls to be still and quiet like a weaned child with its
mother because we are so busy trying to prove to ourselves and our world
that we are worth loving.
There are several words translated pride in
the scriptures. Here in Psalm 131:1, the
word is gabahh. It means to be
high or exalted. In the book of
Proverbs, the word most often used is ga'own, which means elevation,
arrogance, or exaltation. And
in the New Testament, the main word is hyperēphanos (James 4:6), meaning
showing oneself above others, or overestimating one’s
importance. It literally means to
outshine others. Wow, that sounds
exhausting, doesn’t it?
The truth is that pride is just fear in a clever
disguise. Fear is what lies
beneath. In fact, the older I get, the
more I realize that underneath every episode of pride in our lives, there is
just a frightened little boy or girl looking for approval and acceptance.
Prayer
Closing
Prayer: My heart is not proud, O Lord…My heart is not
proud, O Lord…My heart is not proud, O Lord…O Lord, help my heart to not be
proud. Amen.
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