How Do We Guard Ourselves Against The Sin Of Pride?
The sin of pride is the queen of all vices. Let us frequently think of the awful consequences which pride draws after it. We must bear in mind, at least, these three things in order to guard ourselves against pride:
1.) That Almighty God hates and punishes no vice more than this!
From how Christ treated the Scribes and Pharisees, it is clear how much God despises the arrogant. Even the worst sinners were handled with kindness by him; for example, He forgave Mary Magdalen, Zacchaeus, the cross thief, and all other sinners. But, He treated the Scribes and Pharisees, whose primary vice was pride, quite differently. He showed no gentleness for them and rather
condemns them.
2.) That pride in itself makes a person miserable
Every vice has the characteristic of making life sour and miserable in various ways; this is especially true of pride. St. Augustine says: “Pride brings forth envy as its legitimate child, and the bad mother is always accompanied by her bad child.” This makes it clear that misery and pride go hand in hand. A proud guy becomes angry, his inner calm is disturbed, and all he feels is unhappiness and discontentment when he observes others being praised while being neglected.
Another example is Haman: this man was highly favored by King Ahasuerus, he possessed an abundance of temporal goods, all people bent their knees to him, and yet he felt unhappy because Mordechai did not, as he thought, humble himself enough before him, and this offended his pride. ”Whereas I have all things” he himself confessed, “I think I have nothing, so long as I see Mordechai, the Jew, sitting before the king’s gate.” (Esth. 5 :13)
3.) That pride robs man of all his merits for eternity
Only acts of virtue and good deeds done for God’s honor are deserving of merit and a reward in heaven. But, no matter how admirable or great anything may seem in the eyes of the world, anything done for one’s own glory lacks supernatural merit and has no worth in God’s eyes. The Scribes and Pharisees accomplished a lot of good, but Christ said that because of their ambition and pride, they had already earned their reward. St. Bernard says: “As pride is the origin of all vices, so it is also the ruin of all virtues. No matter how many good works a man may have done, how many virtues he may have practiced, if he takes pride in them he becomes the most deplorable and miserable of men.”
“Never suffer pride to reign in thy mind, or in thy words; for from it all perdition took its beginning.” (Tob. 4:14). “Be you humbled, therefore, under the mighty hand of God; that he may exalt you in the time of visitation.” (Peter 5 : 6)
