The Pit of Pride vs. Palace of Patience

Written by Sister2Sister contributor:  Valerie Cooper

Let the battle begin!!!

IN RING ONE:

PRIDE  defined by  arrogance, high mindedness a sense of one’s own proper dignity or value; self-respect. Pleasure or satisfaction taken in an achievement, possession, or association leading to an arrogant or disdainful conduct or treatment; haughtiness

 

IN RING TWO:

 PATIENCE defined by the capacity to endure what is disagreeable without complaining; having the backbone and capacity to endure; bearing calmness, composure, constancy,  keeping your cool, diligence, endurance

 

Who are you really rooting for?

Ok.  I admit.  I’m a word gamer.    My latest phone app is a game called WORDBOXER which is a word game set up as a boxing match . .  I love the pride and  thrill of winning all the time. . .I’m thinking it must be an addiction. . .  considering that I give myself high-fives when I cream my opponents and I do a loud victory dance for finding  uncommon words to win with that I will never use in “real life” nor do I  even remotely want to know the meaning of these words. I even have my own chant, for myself, rooting me on . . . . ( GO SAVVY, GO SAVVY, GO SAVVY) , Sav-VY, Sav-VY, Sav-VY.

I CAN GET PRETTY LOUD WITH MY GAMING HABITS.

Strange, wouldn’t you say? (Maybe just really pathetic –lol)

My dear Canadian husband looks at me from a distance, wondering who it is he really married!!!  To which I one-two punch him by quipping—go watch a  hockey game, then you’ll understand my excitement when I’m winning.

He knows.  Not one Canadian that I know of can deny the thrill of hockey in their country.

LOL- – -high five body slap!

Nevertheless, my meaningless short-lived victories are going to my head and making me feel a sense of accomplishment.  Pride. . .even if it is a false sense of pride can be very ugly.  Your brain doesn’t know the difference.

When in “game mode” I get caught up in thinking that by my own efforts, brains and brilliance that I am winning, when the truth is I heavily rely on word helps from my trusty coach (my computer) to lead me into never ending victories.  This is the epitome of thrill of the kill so to say.  And it feeds on my impatience and tendency to complain when I lose which, in turn can lead me to the pit of despair.

And this is just a word game!!!

You can only imagine the thoughts that may go through my head when the stakes in life are much higher!

We have a formidable enemy that doesn’t play by any rules- – -his never ending quest is to steal, kill and destroy. Satan has an uncanny way of knocking my Christian daylights out, when given the opportunity.    When that happens, I have to remember to put my feelings aside and remember who I am in Christ!

PRIDE AND PATIENCE are the contestants raging war to occupy my mind.  Only one side can win.

So I have to ask myself, whose side am I really on?  What do my actions say? Who am I allowing to coach me and lead me into the true victories in life that really matter?

When my pride takes a hit, it won’t be very long before I start stumbling. . .with my worldly pride taking a nose dive,  my fall is predictable, and inevitable because  PRIDE COMES BEFORE A FALL.. . . perhaps I should take this verse to heart:

JEREMIAH 9:23- 24 (GOD’S WORD)

This is what the Lord says:

Don’t let wise people brag about their wisdom.

Don’t let strong people brag about their strength.

Don’t let rich people brag about their riches

If they want to brag, they should brag that they understand and know me.  They should brag that I, the LORD, act out of love, righteousness, and justice on earth.

 

I THINK WE ALL NEED TO WEAR T’SHIRTS THAT SAY:

Be patient

Christian under construction

God’s not done with me yet

 

Bragging rights are a part of human nature. . . that must be patiently and consistently tamed with a humility that only God can provide.   How many times do I have to remind myself to be patient in various areas of my life?  I didn’t think patience was programmed in my default drive.

Rather, it is a fruit  of the Spirit that is slowly matured  and developed over a lifetime by enduring difficulties and relying on Christ to see you through them.    So when I come across KJV Bible passages like, Luke 21:19 which states: “ In your patience possess ye your soul”. . . .I’m thinking , shouldn’t that be the other way around?

‘In your soul possess ye your patience. “

There.  That’s better.  All I got to do now is to dig deep into my life and retrieve a handful of patience whenever I needed it to knock out that pride. Right?

Nope.  That’s not what it means.  This passage is deeper than it seems.   Our patience is what makes up the very substance of our soul . . . our very lives.

When we are In Christ, our patience becomes the very palace that we dwell in. We must constantly remember to Let His Mind Be In YOU!!!

The ESV translation puts this thought in another way.  “By your endurance, you will gain your lives.”

Developing  Godly patience will lead us into long lasting, life creating victories powered by the very Word of God and His Holy Spirit.  In fact, our very lives in Christ can always be gauged by the level of our patience.    We can’t compare ourselves to each other;  we must look to Christ for this and remember how patiently He endured the Cross for us to lead us into everlasting victory in Jesus. He is our true hope, our help in times of trouble.

Perhaps my pride needs a Sunday punch  to keep my pride in the pit where it belongs.  A Sunday punch is an interesting boxing phrase – -I’m guessing , the phrase was based on the resurrection of Jesus- -punching the devil out once and for all.

A knockout blow. A hard punch, knockout punch or KO punch that renders an opponent unable to continue fighting.

Be for sure. . .Satan is going down, but he’s trying to take as many of us with him as possible.

AND THE WINNER IS…

GODLY PATIENCE IN THE PALACE OF CHRIST JESUS

TRUE VICTORY FOREVERMORE