You have certain sins that seem to rear their ugly head more often than others. I do not want to seem discouraging but some sins you have, you will have until the day you die. The temptations may leave for awhile or may even lessen in intensity, but to think that they will at some point of time go away forever is to be naive.
To be sure, the place that all sins starts is within your heart. What I would like to focus on here is the sin that is responsible for so many other sins in your life. It is the sin of pride. Pride often raises its ugly head and gets you into all sorts of sinful actions.
An unknow author talks about the sin of pride when he says, “The human body is very sensitive. Pat a man on the back and his head swells.” This is so very true. You get a good compliment, and watch how your behavior changes.
God knows how destructive pride can be in the Christian’s life. He puts it this way, “Pride goes before destruction” (Prov. 16:18). It does not take a lot of praise to get you to be prideful. After pride takes hold of your life, it is not long before your Christian attitude and actions start a downward spiral.
Pride starts in the heart, but after pride digs deep roots into your life, sin lurks nearby. Pride causes many men and women of God to lose their Christian witness. If pride goes deep enough into an individual and lasts long enough, the road back to fellowship with God is extremely difficult.
So, the next time someone gives you a compliment, just be aware that the sin of pride can easily take hold of your life. The secret to keeping it at bay is to realize it is a threat, then to remain humble.
