The I in Pride
The keys were lost. I was delighted that I had not driven my daughter’s car and therefore had nothing to do with the disappearance of them. Everyone was scurrying around looking in the regular places--by the front door, on the kitchen counter, hanging on the key rack in the laundry room. Pockets were searched, purses were examined, even outside around the car was inspected, but they were nowhere to be found.
Plans had to be changed and my husband had to take my son-in-law to the airport, my daughter had to walk my grandson to school while I waited at home searching for the keys. Where could they be? My son in law had driven the car the evening before, and there was not a spare set.
The day was not going as we had planned…
My pride knowing that I had nothing to do with the disappearance of the keys was getting the best of me, until I reached in my purse for and saw a set of keys--they looked like mine, but the house key was not the right shape. I was horrified. They were not my keys, but the missing ones that everyone had been looking for all morning.
How had they gotten in my purse? Suddenly in I remembered the night before when I had seen the keys lying on the chest by the front door. I thought they were mine and that my husband had left them there. I recalled thinking that I had better put them in my purse so that I would have them when I returned to my car at the airport.
I had forgotten that my daughter and I had the same key chain and that we both had the same kind of car key, so what appeared to be my set of keys was actually the missing key ring.
My puffed up pride that had provided relief when I thought I had nothing to do with the disappearance of the keys quickly dissipated when I realized my terrible mistake. I was tempted to take the keys from my purse and hide them somewhere only to “discover” them later. That way I would not have to admit what I had done; however, I knew that would be dishonest.
The only right thing to do was to humble myself and confess to everyone what I had done.
The book of Proverbs has a great deal to say about pride:
- God hates it (8:13)
- It leads to disgrace (11:12)
- It breeds quarrels (13:10)
- It leads to destruction (16:18)
- It brings people low (29:23)
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to live a life of pride, instead I want to be humble, not humiliated because of my pride. So this is my prayer: Lord I know there is a lot of work to be done, but please don’t give up on me until You have made me complete and mature with as little pride as possible.
Luke 14:11 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
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