Conquering Pride
Lauren Kostoff
January 16, 2009
Filed under Student Life
Hovering behind every award, every recognition, every impressive grade, every coveted title, every triumphant win . . . is a shadow. A shadow that can darken even the brightest of moments, with its ugly effects and its powerful reign. It moves elusively behind each and every success, dripping into the most unsuspected places, waiting, watching, and preparing to engulf it all. Its game is well practiced and calculated, leaving behind victims in its cool wake of slithering smoke. It is an enemy who countless have faced and few have conquered. Said to be the oldest and deadliest of its kind, but often unnoticed. What is this, you ask? It is pride, the sin that doesn’t give up easily.
Pride is easily described as the most underestimated sin we come against, and arguably the very first sin. It was essentially pride on the part of Lucifer that resulted in his exit from heaven and the beginning of hell. It is that first indulgence into pride that begins it all. Even Adam and Eve’s first sin had obvious elements of pride, in that they believed that they knew better than God. And today, pride creeps into every work place, every home, every government, even CCA. Yes, even here, pride has its way of sneaking in. On sports teams, in the Fine Arts Department, in countless clubs and organizations, and inside classrooms, pride can slip into even the smallest of cracks.
Pride is often so unnoticed because it is manifested so deep in ourselves that we are often ignorant to its inhabitance. It is such a personal sin that grows and festers inside, that most cannot even recognize its active effects or hold on their lives. This is why everyone needs to be actively asking God to reveal any pride we may have hidden inside so we squelch it.
How we get rid of pride is ultimately how we prevent it as well. It boils down to a simple but enormously essential mindset: it all belongs to God. Every trophy, ribbon, fancy title, and even a nice car in the driveway, belongs to God. 1 Chronicles 29: 11- 12 reads, “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth…”
And here at CCA students are constantly being reminded that it all truly does belong to God. After victorious sports games or roaring applause for a performance, coaches, directors, and teachers are constantly making an effort to instill the proper perspective into students, something that even the students recognize and learn from. Several anonymous CCA students involved in extra-curriculars noted that their teachers, directors and coaches are, “Always putting it all in perspective for us.” If we are earnestly seeking God to rid us of pride and consistently remembering that it all belongs to God, then surely, pride can be conquered.