The wrong kind of
pride is that which unduly
reflects the attention inward upon the self and excludes acts of compassion
toward others. The wrong kind is self-focusing, a puffing up of the self
and
destroys faith and
circumvents
concern for others:.1Corinthians
4:6;
13:4.
One result of such kind of
pride is road rage, a
form of terrorism.
Another is the
arrogance a few people of position and money have decided to live by:.Ezekiel
7:19; Matthew 19:24; Revelation
18th chapter.
Another is always seeking
selfish
advantage, or being so deceitful that you conspire
with someone against another. This comes back on one so dreadfully. The
one you conspired with against someone else, will later figure that you
would also do the same to him. In this you greatly hurt your
spirit. There is no other way but to speak well of and do good to all.(Job
3:14; 35:14),
that is, if you have half a brain to see that this
life isn't all there is.
Proverbs
18:11 "The rich man's wealth is his strong city and as an high wall
in his own conceit."
1Timothy
3:6 ".....lest being lifted up with pride he fall into condemnation
of the devil.".Pride
gives an opportunity for the devil to take
you down another step.
Mark
7:22,23 "Thefts, covetousness.(original
Greek is 'addicted to more' and implies a self-idolizing, grasping spirit,
the more you get, the more you think you still need {example
and an explanation in notes at.Amos
2:6-8; looking to the things others possess and how best a greedy person
thinks is needed to take selfish advantage of you; instead look to God
who has
all for you and you can
forget about being part of the selfish
lifestyle; covetous persons want things in proportion,
not to their worth, but to their worthlessness, so they can feel worthwhile),
wickedness.(original
Greek is 'one who plots hurtful things for him/herself and/or others';
more on word 'wicked'),
deceit, lasciviousness,
an evil eye, blasphemy,
pride, foolishness.(original
Greek is 'senselessness, reckless, mindless', a kid steals a car, crashes
it into someone who gets injured and in the process wrecks both lives);
all these things come from within and defile the man."
So we see a good pride and
a bad one. The bad one involves self-centeredness:.Psalms
131:1. The bad kind can be seen in others who get angry
and fight
about words:.1Timothy
6:4 "He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting
about questions and strifes of words, whereof comes envy,
strife,
railings, evil surmisings."
Such self-centeredness often
involves keeping oneself 'up' by boasting:.Acts
5:36.
How could we be self-centered
when focused upon God and the fact that we are righteous, holy
and perfect, not because of anything we may
have done, but because of what Emmanuel has done. This enabled the Father
to impute, as
a gift, His righteousness unto us. This
calls for appreciation and thankfulness.
Our glory is in Christ's
nature in us being expressed in good works, from
our hearts, our spirits being thusly affected:.1Corinthians
1:29 "That no flesh should glory in his presence."
A proud person.(there
are two kinds of pride, the one
that produces negativity and the kind that is good).is
unappreciative because he considers himself to be sufficient
unto himself, nor does he feel thankful, as being in high-mindedness,
he feels there's nothing from another for him that would be as good as
what he can do for himself and nothing that he further needs to know about
because he his mind is made up on things and feels no need to explore anyone
else's thoughts, because he regards them as inferior:.Proverbs
14:12.
Negative pride presents itself
as being aloof,
even somewhat irritated and impatient with others not considered equals.
Pride presents itself as being above others and comes with an overtone
of superiority and arrogance
that distances others. It is the antithesis
of Christian concern
for another:.Acts
13:41; 1Timothy 3:3.
