Prides comes before a...

 
Technically, it's still Fall. It truly feels like winter. But we're still able to say: "Winter is Coming" and chuckle in our very nerdy, I-read-all-five-books! kinda way. But in the months since summer officially ended, I have been grappling with the issue of pride.

Whenever I think of pride, a specific scripture comes to mind:

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.  

Romans 12:3

I'm going to break this down in strange way. But there are three things in this verse that got me. That really GOT me, because I've been acting crazy for a few months due to pride. Understand this: 

I think I'm awesome and important, and anything that threatens that perception of myself has to be KILLED. I wage war against it, because when I think I'm awesome and important, I feel really good.*

But, Paul says: 

1. Think of yourself with sober judgment. Paul is like get real. He's asking you to take a step back and seriously and earnestly evaluate who and what you are, and  
2. He tells us to do so in accordance with the faith God has distributed; Christians know that faith is our access to grace, and it is by grace that we are even able to stand. Without grace, there's nothing we can say or do to commend ourselves to God. So, if I am to take this real good look at myself, in accordance with my knowledge of God, then I have to assume that...
3. I'm drunk when I think of myself more highly than I ought. I'm totally out of it when I view myself as this awesomely important, indispensable being who should be treated as such at all times.

I get mad easily at perceived slights, because like I said...I wage war against anything that injures my pride. And so, I'm constantly at war. Sigh. I want peace time. I'm not stupid...the prideful person falls. They end up losing things, and I don't want to lose anything. 

*The context of the Romans scripture refers to people getting really big heads over their spiritual gifts. I'm not saying I'm running around thinking my spiritual gift is better than someone else's. I'm still unsure what my spiritual gift is. I'm just taking some license to show how pride has been working in my heart.