I have discovered, and continue to discover, the ways that pride hinders not only the Christian but also the unbeliever. The list, I am sorry to say, is long and goes on and on, stretching into eternity where finally pride will be forever eradicated, as will all sin but until then it will continue to plague us every day. Maybe more than any other place, pride keeps us from forgiveness, both in asking for it and in bestowing it upon others.
The way that you first came to Christ is by asking for forgiveness, and in the asking, whether explicitly stated or not, you had to acknowledge the need for forgiveness. If you had not transgressed, then you would not need forgiveness, but admitting that you have done wrong — that you have sinned — is not easy to do, even if the admission is purely between yourself and the Lord. Admitting to the Lord, Who already knows you have sinned, that you have done wrong is perhaps easier than admitting it to yourself. No one likes to think of himself as evil or as being a wrong doer. We prefer to go along wearing blinders to the fact that we are walking straight into Hell rather than humble ourselves and admit we cannot save ourselves because our sin is too great.
Now we know that if we are indeed saved that our sins have been forgiven, but we also know from experience that we will continue to sin, even when we do not want to. Paul said that the things he wants to do, he doesn’t and the things he doesn’t want to do, he does, meaning sin. He wants to do right, but he fails sometimes, as do we, but God is “faithful and just to forgive us” (1 John 1:9) if only we ask. There, my friends, is the sticking point, the asking. The bible often compares us to children because we are the children of God and even though the Bible says we much come like children to the Kingdom, I am certain that God did not mean for us to try and cover up our sin as our children do!
Think of a child caught doing wrong. Even though the parent knows the child has done something, the child will try to deny or cover up his deed. There is a comic strip called Family Circus that depicts the children being asked about certain misdeeds in the household and blaming it on an “imaginary” person that is drawn is as a sort of ghost-like figure. This imaginary person has names such as Not Me, Nobody or Ida Know. Funny in the comics but not so funny in the home and not funny to God either but many times we do not want to “fess up” to our transgressions, even as Believers, not because of fear of punishment as in the illustration but because of our pride. To ask for forgiveness is to admit you need it.
Pride is a tool of the Devil to separate believers from God; therefore, we must tear down the walls of pride that keep us from God, readily and quickly admit when we have done wrong by allowing the Holy Spirit to work within us in the way that God intended (leading us into all truth) and ask for God’s forgiveness, which He readily gives if only we will ask. We must defeat the Prince of Darkness and his armies with the Word of Truth because the battle is fierce and we must guard our hearts at all times, willing to dislodge and destroy any sin in our life that will give Satan a foothold. The Bible says “he prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). We must be on our guard, using the shield of faith, faith that God will forgive and defend us as His own, and the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God, to knock the enemy down. He is a defeated foe, but we must not allow him to mislead us by using our pride against us.
Yours in love and in Christ,
Sonya Richards