I get rather philosophical from time to time, and occasionally jot some of those thoughts down. So here's one from the archives.
It is said that Pride is one of the seven deadly sins. Okay then, what about this scenario:
Jack: I'm very proud to serve God.
Jane: You just committed the sin of Pride.
Jack: From being proud to–
Jane: It's still Pride.
Or take being proud of your kids. Is that still a sin of Pride? Is it bad to simply acknowledge your legitimate worth, or that of your loved ones? Is it sinful to be proud of your hard-earned accomplishments?
Obviously there is more than one type of Pride, Healthy and bad. Without that healthy pride, one cannot live, excel, care about life, no reason to do one’s best or achieve anything, or resist tyranny. Without pride, one may be satisfied to live on welfare, do any menial task given him, and find himself under another’s control. With completely no pride, one can even be made to commit sinful or heinous acts, since he has no pride that would make him stop.
And yet too much pride can lead one to be unwilling to accept any help when he needs it, and lead to that whole deadly sin thing. Too much pride leads to not simply being confident and sure, but annoyingly egotistical.
So where is the dividing line between “good healthy” pride and “deadly” pride?
The answer is Truth itself. Self-Truth. By seeing the full truth (both positive and negative) of one’s capabilities, history, and life, then Pride can be tempered from becoming the full-out deadly kind, as the knowing of the full truth of one’s self and the situation would automatically reign in the Pride and allow it to remain useful instead of a hinderance.
In short:
Pride with Self-Truth = healthful Pride; confident, certain.
Pride without Self-Truth = the deadly sin type of Pride; egotistical and doomed to fail.
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