Does Pride Keep You From “Community”?
“Check Your Ego At The Door”
A local gym owner/coach tells this to new and veteran athletes and students. Why? It’s too easy for athletes, especially competitive ones, to look at the workout and the whiteboard and think “Not a problem. I got this!” Yet, these athletes fail to take several different conditions into account, including:
- Failure to “listen” to their body
- Poor form
- Lifting too heavy weight
Pride in Life
The Amplified Version of the Bible uses the word “Pride” 73 times to describe what pride looks like in the lives of everyday people:
In Life:
As Sin:
How God Hates Pride & The Trouble It Brings:
How Humility Changes Things 
The Bible also speaks to the virtues of humility. Again, the Amplified Version references “humility” or “humble” over 120 times in both the Old and New Testament. Specifically, both Dr. Luke and Peter speak to the differences between pride and humility:
OK. So What Does This Bible Study Have To Do With MY Life?
Plenty! Think about it. If the athlete in our opening example had taken the time to “check his ego at the door”, he might have considered the condition of his body, how he felt both mentally and physically and lifting lighter weight to help ensure better form.
But what you do with difference between pride and humility can also come into play in your everyday life. Whether your a stay-at-home parent, work in an office or other environment, you make a lot of decisions. Sometimes, the underlying basis for those decisions is pride.
Case in point:
Leslie Wolff, Lead Instructor with Revelation Wellness and a Shepherd for Rim To Him Canyon Crossings, writes of a group adventure she led in which her underlying pride got in the way of her better judgment and, in her words, her “inability to move stopped the forward progress of those behind me.” However, Wolff shares how once she was able to accept the sacrifice of another’s help, “the pleasure in completing the planned route was given up for something that was worth so much more, community.” Read how Wolff learned the lessons of pride, humility and community. And think about those lessons the next time you have to make a decision.
