Saturday, October 26, 2013

Seven Deadly Sins: PRIDE


Pride is considered the big daddy of all sins, and the source of all others. Pride used to be broken off into three separate parts including Hubris and Vainglory (now more commonly known as Vanity), but were combined since they all boiled down to the same issue. Pride occurs when a person believes they are better than others, disregard accomplishments made by others, and excessively admire their own selves.

Pride can also mean a feeling of honor and respect for yourself, others, accomplishments, choices, and actions. This type of Pride is thought to be good, and requires a sense of self in order to be present. Regardless, there is some debate on whether any type of Pride is good or bad.

The virtue associated with stopping Pride is Humility. Humility is giving credit where credit is do, modest behavior, respect, bravery, and selflessness. It is thinking of yourself less without thinking less of yourself. It is having the will to do the icky, non-glamorous jobs, to be charitable towards those you don't necessarily agree with, and to keep your word.

This sin is right smack dab in the middle for me. It is more of an issue with me than the previous ones because sometimes I slip into the mode of thinking that I am right about something, and that everyone else is silly for thinking otherwise. I don't necessarily mean to come off as belittling, but it happens. The good news is that when I see myself being prideful in a bad way I am usually quick to correct myself, or to apologize for behaving in such a rude manner. Also, while I do get tangled up in Pride from time to time, I believe I still tend towards the humble side more often then not. I hope that's the case at least.

So how do you fair when it comes to Pride? Does it sometimes catch you by surprise as it does me? Do you have a hard time with it, or are you actually pretty okay when it comes to this one? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

^-^

1 comment:

  1. I think that it's fine to be proud of what you accomplish, just not overly so. Just as humility is to give credit to others when they have done work, you should also give yourself credit for YOUR work. This does not make you better than anyone else though, as everybody else also works (though you may not notice it), and even if they don't... it's a waste of time to worry about others that much anyway.

    ReplyDelete