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by Carol Van Atta
"The Lord Almighty has done it to destroy your pride and show his contempt for all human greatness" (Isaiah 23:9, emphasis mine).
“Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2).
As I sat on the hard, frozen bleacher, my son swung his bat at the second pitch. “Strike two…!” The umpire called. I comforted myself with the fact that my little “all star” baseball player had not struck out once this season. Another fastball rocketed out of the pitcher’s hand, right down the center, over the plate… CRACK! The ball formed a perfect arc and sailed through the cloudy sky, shooting over the fence, and right out of the ballpark. I leapt to my feet with the other onlookers, as applause erupted around me.
“What are you feeding that kid?” A man’s voice joked. I continued to beam, thinking proudly, that’s my boy.
The compliments, pats on the back, and friendly jests continued for the rest of the game. I watched proudly as my son humbly accepted the praise from his peers, parents, and coaches. I graciously received the parental praise that came my way too. We were an undefeated baseball team – not bad, not bad at all.
As my son enjoyed his free home run hotdog, I observed several of his teammates chomping down their own snacks and rudely bragging about their victory to anyone who would listen. Several parents shot annoyed looks in their direction. I decided it was time to remind my son about the evil of pride. He listened carefully to my words and responded with godly wisdom well beyond his ten years. “I know, Mom. All I asked God to do was help me hit the ball. I thanked Him when I was running the bases.”
Wow! Now that statement was something to be proud of. His humble attitude would make an eternal difference far beyond his baseball hitting years. As the evening progressed, my thoughts continued to review the events of the earlier ball game. It was as if an instant replay camera in my head was on a permanent rotation. My son is very talented, handsome, smart and athletic. But he is just a boy. Not God. That may sound strange to some of you, but maybe you can relate. It is amazing how easily pride can creep into our hearts and minds. We can go from being proud to prideful in a split second if we’re not careful. I did. I fell asleep that night not thinking about my Heavenly Father, but thinking about my adorable son, and his giftedness.
Humbling myself before God
When I woke up the next day still focused on baseball, and then continued to think about it incessantly for the next week, I realized I had some business to settle immediately with my own Head Coach – God. As I reviewed my heart in prayer, it became evident that I had unknowingly fallen into a trap – a trap as old as the Garden of Eden. A trap that has caught many of us unaware – pride.
God gives us many gifts and our children are one of them. But they are never to take the place of our Savior. When our thoughts and emotions begin to “bow” to our children or their achievements, we are in a world of trouble. Thank goodness I was able, with God’s help, to recognize the trap I had stepped into. With Him, I was able to free myself from its clutches. Pride will destroy us if left unchecked. But with this simple daily plan, we can protect ourselves and release the pride trap if we accidentally trip up and fall in.
Breaking pride down
Breaking down the word "pride" into its acronym and converting each letter into a godly principle has helped me – I believe it can help you too!
P: Pray – We need to remember to pray, without ceasing. An attitude of prayer and thanksgiving will go a long way in our fight against pride. It is very difficult to fall into the trap when we are lifting our praise and thanks heavenward.
R: Repent – If we end up in the trap (which as humans, we will occasionally do), the best choice we can make is to repent and seek God’s forgiveness immediately. By repenting and regaining our thankful attitude we can step out of the pride-trap and re-enter God’s peace.
I: Invite – Invite God everywhere – even to a baseball game. God loves our children more than we do. He is their greatest coach and cheerleader. With Him next to us in the bleachers we are less likely to fall into the temptation of toying with pride and its treacherous trap.
D: Determine – Determine that you will, with God’s power, keep your focus on Him. We must make a daily decision to bow to Him alone, and no one or nothing else of this world. When we put people and things on a pedestal, we set ourselves up for pain and disappointment. With God as our focus we can rest assured that He has our best interest in mind – always.
E: Enjoy – Enjoy God. Enjoy your children. Enjoy life. Enjoy today. After all, they are all gifts from our Creator. Joy is a gift from God. With our heart focused on Christ first and foremost, we are free to enjoy the world and all creation, especially our families.
Now with these principles in hand, before we become boastful, we can take a look at pride with godly vision, and remain outside its ever-present snare. As for baseball...my son is still hitting strong. But now, he and I both know that whether or not he hits the ball, it’s all the same to God. We’re both loved and applauded by our one True Coach whether we hit a homerun or strike out! We want our actions and words to humbly acknowledge that any gifts or talents we might have come from God.
~ Carol Van Atta, founder of Princess Warriors for Christ: Reigning Real, is an author and speaker who wants to help women become all they can be in Christ, while "keeping it real." She believes every woman of God is a priceless princess and a worthy warrior. To learn more about her ministry visit: www.carolvanatta.com.
