Things Pride Gives Birth To

Its been said that pride is the only disease that makes everyone sick except the person who has it. C.J. Mahaney explains that, “Pride is when sinful human beings aspire to the status and position of God and refuse to acknowledge their dependence on him.”

Joe Thorn summarizes Puritan Richard Mayo in his sermon on The Prevention and Cure of Spiritual Pride where he warns us that pride can lead to all kinds of other sins. He says, “It is a big-bellied sin; most of the sins that are in the world are the offspring and issue of pride.” He gives a number of example. Here is a summary of most of them.

Pride gives birth to:

1. Covetousness - because you believe you deserve something more than others.
2. Ungodly ambition - because you believe that you are most qualified, and the idea of someone else being preferred over you is an insult to your perceived worth.
3. Boasting - because everyone should know who you are and what you have accomplished.
4. Contention - because in picking fights you feel a sense of superiority over those who may (or may not) be in error.
5. Unthankfulness - because you deserve everything you get!
6. Selfishness - because others do not!
7. Self-deceit - because it’s easier to believe you are something, when in fact you are nothing.
8. A judgmental attitude - because you believe the errors of others are much more serious than your own.
9. Gossip - because you look so much better when telling others how awful someone else is. Mayo said that the proud “endeavor to build their own praise upon the ruins of others’ reputation.”
10. Complaining - because God should have consulted you before orchestrating the events of your day/life.
11. Hypocrisy - because you must hide the truth, your own failures, in order to avoid shame and accumulate praise.

One more thing... You cannot spell sin or pride without "I" being in the middle. As someone else said, "When the "I" becomes dominant, the "spiritual eye" sees the entire world in a distortion."