Swallowing Pride

Pride comes in all different forms; different shapes and sizes. It extends much more beyond the swelling up inside that comes from affirmation or the haughty look of self-righteousness. While these are certainly readily identifiable forms of pride, there can also be pride in humility, an inner pride that does not easily reveal itself. I feel like this is also the case with the pride described in today's devotional. A hesitancy to admit fault and failure stems from pride in ourselves that we can keep tucked away, one that prevents us from appearing weak to others out of fear that they might think less of us, and believing that we should be viewed as better.

I definitely see this reluctance to admit fault in my own life. Often times, I don't even think its at all ill-intentioned; most times I probably don't even think I'm wrong. However, this is due to the fact that its so much easier to look critically outward than critically inward. In many of my relationships, I feel like it's more simple to consider "this is what they could have done better" rather than "this is what I could have done better". As a slight tangent, this mentality is actually very prevalent in a video game I play called League of Legends; it's a 5 vs 5 team-based game, and often players will blame others for losses or their own faults. I think overall I am pretty good at being self-critical rather than outwardly critical within the context of that game, so its interesting to me that its so much harder for me in real life. However, I am coming to recognize this as a problem, and before criticizing others, I'm praying that God might help me take the plank out of my own eye and work to improve myself first and foremost.

This pride also leads in part to Israel's punishment throughout Jeremiah. While not explicitly mentioned in Jeremiah 21, in previous chapters, God talks about his disdain that the people of Israel do not recognize or admit their wrongs, but instead carry on without shame and without blushing. God would much rather us recognize our own faults and repent than to pretend as if they don't exist and continue on through acts of righteousness. Let's pray together to continue looking inwardly at areas that we might need to be grown and healed.