How to Recognize Pride vs. A Prideful Nature:
True Pride:
True pride that has its way in you is unable to hear and respond to the voice of humility. Therefore it has an insatiable desire to dominate, be seen, acknowledged & recognized. The serpents of jealousy, envy and lack and scarcity slither around in true pride robbing it’s host of inner peace and confidence.
This pride gets easily frustrated & anger flares up when it’s plans are thwarted and people stand in its way of getting what it wants.
It is fueled by unbridled ambition that puts things before people. The non-essential before the essential, and will do anything, often void of moral conscious, to get what it wants.
This pride is like a spoiled child and is seldom content or deeply satisfied…always wanting more.
A Spiritually Discerning Person with a Prideful Nature:
Know this: Even as a human being seeking to love, serve and honor God you will experience prideful flare-ups. Often times you will think you have passed a godly character development class in earth school only to find yourself taking a refresher course ; ).
The difference between a person who lives in service of pride and one who seeks to put God’s ways of love and service first and experiences occasional moments of prideful flare-ups is this:
As soon as pride shows up the spiritually discerning person will feel the burn of whatever action, thought, or word associated with the prideful moment within their biology.
Feeling the discomfort this person will choose to return to God as quickly as possible. Identifying and adjusting their thoughts, words and deeds to keep themselves aligned with the higher good of all concerned, which flows form their intimacy with God.
The spiritually discerning person sees pride for what it is and seeks the higher ground of humility, love and gratitude. They are also able to forgive others when they have prideful moments.
Basically, the truly prideful person is enslaved to pride as they continually choose it over the ways of their godly nature.
The person who has a prideful nature or tendency as humans do, yet is not a proud person, is one who rejects prideful flare-ups and quickly makes amends as they choose God over their prideful moment.
Begin again, and again and again with even more congruency today than yesterday.
Align your actions with your God given natural state of being filling your responses to life with love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness and self-control.
Authentic transformation beings with ruthless honesty and the ability to adjust and choose God’s abundant grace which always offers the opportunity to begin again.
“Dear God rescue us from the weak moments of the flesh which rob us of the knowing that we are enough IN YOU. We lack nothing, as St. Teresa of Avila says, when we have you. Fill up those spaces within our interior castle which are void of the remembrance that humility, love and confidence make up the foundation for lasting inner peace and life satisfaction.”
Because of His Love,
Lauren <><