Pride is the opposite of Insignificance, that is, low self-esteem, another extreme that does not lead to anything good. Pride and Arrogance directly relate to a person’s Self-Esteem, or rather to the problems of self-esteem.
I’ll start with a question: why do you think Pride in Christianity is considered a mortal sin and the most serious of all sins? Pride is equivalent in severity to killing another person. Have you ever wondered how many destinies, how many talented and intelligent people were ruined by this companion of success (pride)? How many feelings and relationships are destroyed because of pride?
I want to warn you right away - you should not confuse Pride with Pride, these are radically opposite concepts. Understanding and distinguishing between hubris and pride is worthy of its own article.
What is Pride?
To begin with, let's give some revealing definitions. Why several? Because pride is a very complex and multifaceted flaw and a very dangerous sin.
Pride is inflated self-esteem when a person considers himself better than he really is, and also better than all other people. The problem is that this is an inadequate assessment of oneself, which leads to making fatal life mistakes.
Pride is disrespect for other people, which manifests itself as arrogance, boasting, ingratitude, inattention to others, etc.
I also liked the Christian definition from Wikipedia; I would call this definition spiritually literate:
Pride differs from simple pride in that a person blinded by pride boasts of his qualities before God, forgetting that he received them from Him. This is a person’s arrogance, the belief that he can do everything on his own and achieves everything on his own, and not with the help and will of God. In pride, a person does not thank God for everything that he has (for example, hearing, sight, life) and receives (for example, food, shelter, children).
Here is another definition that I consider adequate and reflects the essence of pride:
Pride (lat. superbia) or Arrogance is the desire to consider yourself independent and the only reason for all the good that is in you and around you.
Hypertrophied and expanded Pride turns into delusions of grandeur.
The main programs (attitudes) of pride, which need to be said goodbye (replaced with adequate beliefs). What a person stricken with pride usually thinks and says:
“I am the best, the most beautiful, the smartest, the most worthy, the most”
“I am better than others, smarter, stronger, cooler, etc.”, “And this means that I should have more than others, I have the right to this, I am better...”, “And that means others and the whole world for me owe much more than I owe to them and this world”, “And if I’m so cool and everyone owes me, then it’s not necessary to thank them, they owe me... it’s not necessary to appreciate them, they should appreciate me, I’m on much better than all of them…”, etc.
Sound familiar? I think it's familiar. If you are honest enough with yourself, you will remember examples in your life when you thought this way and how it ultimately ended. Think about examples of other people who behaved in a similar way, and what your reaction was to their attitude and behavior.
How is pride usually formed or where does it come from?
1. Incorrect upbringing. For example, when parents inspire their child from childhood - “you are the best”, “the smartest”, “the best”, “you are better than others”. It’s especially bad when it’s completely untrue and not supported by life. That is, the child has not done anything good, but he is praised and praised. When rewards are undeserved.
2. When a person is not trained to work with his Self-Esteem, is not trained to work with his shortcomings, treat them correctly and eliminate them. Then, with the first success, he begins to think that it is he who is so great, and not God, the Universe and Fate who favor him. That is, when a person takes credit for all the merits and successes, that all this is only thanks to him alone, his uniqueness and genius.
There are other causes of Pride, but we will look at the fight against them in more detail in the article - “How to get rid of Pride.”
Pride
Pride is a positive quality of a person, as it manifests itself in respect for oneself or another person. How often have we been proud of the achievements of our parents, grandmothers or great-grandfathers. Many grandfathers took part in the Great Patriotic War and returned as winners. We are proud of our mighty Fatherland, as we are the descendants of the victors.
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Pride is a sense of self-worth. We were taught from childhood that a person sounds proud. Man has mastered space, discovered the laws of the universe, learned to fight the natural elements and conquered many previously incurable diseases.
Pride manifests itself in respect for oneself and others. If a person feels his own dignity, then he also respects this in other people. Very often, a person falling into pride tries to cover up his sin with pride, explaining his actions with noble goals and ideas. However, remember that in the manifestation of pride there is no humiliation or indifference to others; if it appears, we are not talking about pride, but about arrogance.
Problems that Pride Causes
I think everyone has noted that when a person is driven by Pride, it is unpleasant, and often unbearable, to communicate and deal with him. Is it really unpleasant when you are treated with arrogance and arrogance, like a second-class citizen? Everyone doesn't like this attitude.
When a person begins to feel pride, it becomes difficult to communicate with him, normal people who respect themselves begin to shun such a person and avoid communicating with him in every possible way. In the end, he is left alone, alone with his pride, dissatisfied with all the other people and their behavior.
Many Religions say: Pride is the mother of all other sins. This is indeed true. When a person is overcome by pride, he begins to demand undeserved attention to himself - vain glory, and this is Vanity.
Such a person begins to believe that everyone owes him, but he owes nothing to anyone. This is called double Egoism, which in turn gives rise to other vices, such as greed, appropriation of someone else’s, etc.
A person stricken by pride, in a halo of his own greatness and uniqueness, ceases to see the merits and talents of other people, loses the value of everything he has in life, everything that others do for him. His behavior manifests itself as disrespect, arrogance, arrogance, and in some cases, rudeness and pugnacity. Such a person becomes incredibly suspicious, touchy and conflicted.
Touchiness is a quality that begins to grow in a proud person by leaps and bounds. It is rightly said that if a person cannot calmly listen to criticism addressed to him, if at the same time he is nervous, twitches and takes offense, he is struck by pride. The inability to accept constructive criticism is the first sign of pride. And the first companion of pride is resentment, because for such a person others will always be to blame for everything, and he will blame other people for all his mistakes and mistakes.
Pride almost completely stops a person’s development and personal growth; he simply cannot learn. And where should he grow, he’s already the coolest and the smartest. And there is no person who is worthy to be his Teacher or mentor, because he is higher than all other people, or rather little people. But most importantly, the inadequacy of the perception of a person stricken by pride does not allow him to see his shortcomings, and therefore correct his mistakes. He doesn't even have enough honesty with himself to even admit he's wrong. And if he is right in everything and he is not mistaken, then others are mistaken, they are the ones who are so bad, which means it is not appropriate for him to work on his shortcomings, there is nothing for him to change about himself, he is already just super.
In essence, Pride is an illusory, that is, inadequate perception of oneself, an illusion. This insidious illusion lifts a person as high as his imagination and growing delusions of grandeur will allow him, and, reaching its maximum, pride throws a person down into a state of insignificance. Many people falling from the heights of their pride are broken (destroying themselves and their destiny) and never rise again. So be careful!
Pride in the modern world
Let's look at what a person's pride can lead to. If you do not realize in time the harmfulness of pride, it can even lead to crime. We saw this in the example of the development of fascism in Europe, when the German nation began to consider itself better and more important than other nations. How much grief and tears fascism brought to everyone, including the German people.
Pride leads to national chauvinism, when one people considers itself entitled to oppress other peoples. People are filled with national swagger, confusing chauvinism with national patriotism. In its extreme manifestation, this leads to physical violence against representatives of other peoples or nations, intolerance towards other people's traditions and beliefs.
To recognize the spiritual disease of pride, you need to know its main signs and manifestations:
- arrogance;
- swagger;
- arrogance;
- arrogance;
- hatred;
- prejudice;
- vanity;
- desire to humiliate others;
- irritability and intolerance;
- unwillingness to forgive and admit your mistakes.
I have listed the sources of food for pride. We have seen from historical examples how far a person can go in demonstrating his pride. But you may not agree with the listed examples of manifestations of the properties of pride, because many people do not know how to forgive and behave arrogantly. This is true. However, pride begins when a person ceases to control his feelings and allows them to completely master him. In this case, we are no longer talking about a simple sin, but about a manifestation of pride.
How to deal with pride
The first fruit of pride is aggression towards other people. A proud person is arrogant, quick-tempered, and intolerant. A sense of self-importance can lead him to think about his superiority and uniqueness. This will lead to him creating an idol of himself and starting to worship himself. If someone dares to object to a proud man, he will begin to take revenge on him.
A proud person is often touchy, which he tries to carefully hide from others. Unsatisfied resentment and unfulfilled revenge can lead to mental and health disorders. This is a very dangerous state for the proud person himself and for those around him.
How to resist the manifestation of pride? First of all, you need to realize your spiritual illness and admit it. If a person does not notice the manifestation of pride in himself, he will not fight it. Listen to the opinions of others - what do they say about you? Do they notice your shortcomings, and what exactly? This will be a reason to think about your character and properties.
If you often get irritated with people, are you becoming proud? Find the motives for irritation in yourself - what bothers you most? Then start following these rules in your life:
- accept the world as it is;
- do not try to subjugate people to your will by any means;
- learn to listen to people's opinions;
- for everything give thanks to the creator of life;
- in any situation, try to see the positive sides.
If you cannot cope with pride on your own, seek help from spiritual mentors from your church or ask older people to help you cope with your qualities. The wisdom of the older generation can only benefit the young.
