Why is pride the most terrible sin and why does the Bible say that it is the mother of all sins

Pride is the sin of Lucifer and Adam, therefore it is the most terrible

Orthodoxy understands pride as pride, arrogance, selfishness, arrogance and conceit. Pride is a mortal sin. He is the eighth on the list of deadly sins, but in terms of the time of his appearance he is the first.

The Scripture says that after the Lord created the angels, the most beloved of them, Lucifer (Darnitsa), refused to kneel before Him. This was the first manifestation of pride in the world.

The Fall of the Rebel Angels. Luca Giordano. 1666 Lucifer, overcome by pride, rebelled against God

Lucifer received from God the greatest power among all the other angels. This became a source of pride for him. Considering himself equal to God, he decided to go against him and take the throne of the Almighty Lord for himself.

Archangel Michael, who defeated the proud Lucifer

To do this, he gathered an army among the angels, and a battle began in Heaven. The colossal battle ended with the defeat of Dennitsa. The army of angels who remained faithful to God, led by the Archangel Michael, won.

Lucifer and all the fallen angels were thrown into the underworld. From now on they live there, deprived of radiance and God's grace.

The second example of the danger of pride is the sin of Adam, who, being proud, tasted the forbidden fruit.

When a person becomes proud, it does not bother him to remember his ancestors Adam and Eve. Living in Eden and being provided with everything necessary, they, tempted by the Serpent, violated God's prohibition.

Proud, Adam, yielding to Eve’s persuasion, tasted the forbidden fruit. The result of this was their expulsion from Paradise.

Adam and Eve. Peter Paul Rubens. 1628 The Fall of Adam and Eve is a clear example of the sin of pride

These two examples indicate that pride is, first of all, a rebellion against God. A proud being goes so far as to consider himself equal to the Creator.

At the same time, it not only asserts such equality, but also strives to take its place. Lucifer did this in heaven, but on earth various rulers and revolutionaries imitate him.

The life of Christ is an example of the fight against pride.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, in his earthly life, repeatedly showed us an example of humility, starting from the washing of feet at the Last Supper and ending with his martyrdom on the cross.

At the same time, he was endowed with qualities that no mortal will ever be endowed with. His life is an example of humility and the fight against pride for us.

She tops the list of mortal sins in Orthodoxy

Pride, love of money, fornication, gluttony, envy, anger, greed and despondency - this is the list of the seven deadly sins. What is the first, most dangerous passion for a person?

Pride - the desire to elevate oneself

The danger of pride is that it is born from sin and gives rise to other sins. So theologians derive this sin from such a sin as vanity. By seeking false honor and praise, a person gains inflated self-esteem.

A person suffering from the sin of pride is affirmed in the opinion that he is higher than everyone else and more worthy.

However, there may not be any objective confirmation of this.

A false sense of self-worth gives rise to condemnation. Next, the desire to judge others is born. As a result, people become unjust judges. The Gospel says:

"Judge not lest ye be judged. For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

(Matt. 7, 1-2)

Many people forget about this, although it is necessary to understand these words constantly.

The greatest danger for someone who is proud is that he begins to deny the help of other people and higher powers. Such a person begins to brag about his achievements, appropriating them for himself.

By boasting about his achievements, a person, without knowing it, is exposed to the sin of pride.

As a result, he exalts himself and degrades others. At the same time, a person may not even realize that he is exposed to the most ferocious sin. Over time, it can lead to destruction—godlessness.

See also the article How many circles of hell

LiveInternetLiveInternet

Pride in Christianity is the most serious of the seven deadly sins, which entails all the others.

Pride underlies or intersects with such vices as greed, envy and anger. For example, the desire for enrichment (Greed) is caused by the fact that a person wants to become not just rich, but richer than other people, he envies (Envy) because he does not allow the thought that someone lives better than him, he gets irritated and angry (Anger ), when another person does not recognize his superiority, etc.

What is pride?

What is pride? And pride, and pride, and vanity, we can add here - arrogance, arrogance, conceit - all these are different types of one basic phenomenon - “focus on oneself.” Pride is extreme self-confidence, with the rejection of everything that is not one’s own, a source of anger, cruelty and malice, a refusal of God’s help, a “demonic stronghold.” In any case, if it is difficult for a person to ask for forgiveness, if he is touchy and suspicious, if he remembers evil and condemns others, then these are all undoubtedly signs of pride.

We, people raised in Soviet times, were taught from childhood that pride is almost the main virtue of a Soviet person. Remember: “Man sounds proud”; “The Soviets have their own pride: they look down on the bourgeoisie.” And indeed, the basis of any rebellion is pride. Pride is the sin of Satan, the first passion that appeared in the world even before the creation of people. And the first revolutionary was Satan.

How does God punish the sin of pride?

Brother:

I ask you, Reverend Father, tell me how God punishes the sin of pride?

Elder:

Listen, brother John! To imagine how vile pride is before God and how He punishes it, it is enough to remember that only because of this sin Satan fell and was cast out of heaven with all his angels (see: Rev. 12: 8–9). And in order to understand how deep the abyss into which one possessed by disgusting pride falls, let us imagine from what glory and light Satan and the angels like-minded with him fell, into what disgrace they fell and to what torment they became guilty.

And so that you can imagine this even better, know, your brotherhood, that Satan, before his fall from the highest light and glory, was not some insignificant creation of God, but was one of the most beautiful, most radiant, most adorned and chosen creatures, the most close to God. As the Holy Scripture says, he was a shining star among the heavenly intelligent ranks. He was the son of the dawn of the evening and the heavenly Cherub, most beautiful, luminous and adorning his Creator, God.

Scripture writes about this symbolically, through the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, who speaks to the king of Tire like this: You were an anointed cherub to overshadow, and I appointed you to do this; you were on the holy mountain of God, you walked among the fiery stones

(Ezek. 28:13–14). Likewise, the prophet Isaiah calls Satan a shining star and the son of the dawn (see: Is. 14: 12). Do you see, brother John, what glory the devil had, what beauty and splendor before he fell into a great fall?

And further: Because of your beauty your heart was lifted up, because of your arrogance you destroyed your wisdom. Therefore I have cast you to the ground and will hand you over to shame before kings.

(cf.: Ezek. 28:18)

And a little further he adds: And now you are cast into hell, into the depths of the underworld.

(cf. Is. 14:15).

So, Brother John, from these few testimonies of Divine Scripture, I think you understand how God punishes pride and what harm it causes to those who have it.

Brother:

Indeed, Reverend Father, I understood this quite clearly, but I think that God appointed this punishment only for Satan and his angels, because they, like angels, could not sin as easily as we do. But I would ask you to tell me how God punishes pride in the human race?

Elder:

Know, your brotherhood, that much should be said to answer this question. But to be brief and so that we can imagine how severely God punishes the pride of people, I will first cite the words of the Divine Scriptures, from which we see how God punished our ancestors Adam and Eve for the pride.

Brother:

But what kind of pride could our ancestors Adam and Eve have had, Reverend Father? I know that they were punished by God not for pride, but for disobedience, because they transgressed the commandment of God and ate from the forbidden tree!

Elder:

Know, your brotherhood, brother John, that our first parents Adam and Eve also suffered from pride and were seduced before disobedience and transgression of the commandment, because the first sign of pride is neglect of obedience

This was also evident in our ancestors, when they disdained obedience to God and transgressed His sacred commandment. To test their obedience, God commanded them: You may eat from all the trees of paradise, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day that you eat from it you will die.

(cf. Gen. 2: 16–17). The devil inspired them to eat from this tree, saying that not only would they not die, but they would also become like gods, knowing good and evil (see: Gen. 3:5). And they, having listened to the serpent, dared to transgress the commandment of God and eat from the forbidden tree, imagining that they themselves would become gods! That is why the divine father Maximus the Confessor says: “Just as the devil fell because of dreams, he did the same thing so that Adam and Eve would dream in their minds that they would become exactly like God, and so that because of this dream they would fall »

You see, therefore, Brother John, that only after our forefathers fell and imagined in their minds that they would become like God, only then did they disdain obedience to their Creator and transgress His commandment. So let's be clear about this.

And about how God punished their pride and transgression of the commandments, listen, brother John. First of all, they inherited a double death: the death of the body and the death of the soul, that is, the entry of their souls into hell. Secondly, they were expelled from God's paradise. Thirdly, the earth was cursed because of their sin. And fourthly, they were punished by God and their Creator so that they, through labor and the sweat of their brow, would obtain food for themselves on earth all the days of their lives. So that the earth would bear thorns for them, and in the end they should return to the earth from which they were created (see: Gen. 3: 18–19). He then gave Eve a double punishment: so that she would give birth to her children in pain and so that she would be attracted to her husband, that is, so that she would be subordinate to him at all times.

But the greatest punishment and penance for them was spiritual death, that is, to remain in hell and torment for 5508 years, that is, until the Coming of the Redeemer and the Resurrection of the New Adam, Christ

Behold, brother John, how severe was God’s punishment for the human race for the sin of pride. Through the mistake of our forefathers Adam and Eve, the entire human race remained under penance until the Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who, with His immeasurable humility and His obedience to the death of the Cross, healed their pride and disobedience and removed the condemnation of death from the entire human race.

Let this be said only about the punishment for the sin of pride of our ancestors Adam and Eve, but if you want to know about the punishment for other people for this sin, then read the Holy Scriptures. There you will see how God punished the children of Israel (see: Deut. 1: 43–44), how He punished the pride of those who began to build the Tower of Babel (see: Gen. 11: 4–8), how He punished the pride of Nebuchadnezzar, king Babylonian (see: Dan. 4: 22; 5: 20–23), and you will also learn about the punishment of King Manasseh (see: 2 Chron. 33: 11). And from many other places of the Holy Scriptures, Old and New, you will learn how much God hates proud people.

Prayer for pride

“FATHER, forgive my sins and my most important sin - my pride. She is the cause of my pain and the pain of other people, and therefore YOURS!

Its birth is hidden in time, but I am reaping its fruits now, for my pride is the cause of my judgment. Just as pride gives rise to judgment, so judgment gives rise to hatred. I understood why she was born. The reason is simple - I did not see YOU in my world.

I did not see YOU in the events of my life, in my loved ones, in the people around me, and I rose above YOU, allowing myself to judge YOU (in my mother, my father, my wife, my children, loved ones and just people around me. I judged YOU in all YOUR manifestations, the destinies of people and the destinies of nations, state laws and moral laws... etc.).

FORGIVE for dividing YOUR world, and therefore YOU, into good and evil, light and darkness. I realized now that it’s all YOU! And life itself is YOUR life. And YOU, as a caring FATHER, raise me - your child with great LOVE, and everything that happened in my life, IT WAS FROM YOU! And everything was for me!

THANK YOU, FATHER, for YOUR lessons. For all the events of my life, from small to large, are just lessons of LOVE - my daily bread, food for my thoughts. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

I bow before my enemies, for I have no enemies! How can you be my enemy? My enemy is my friend! This is a manifestation of YOUR LOVE! It was YOU who became this way for my sake, to make me think, for I am lazy, and the swamp of false prosperity and peace can suck me in, and YOU do not allow me to perish.

And therefore I THANK my enemies, for it is YOU and IT WAS FROM YOU! And I THANK my friends and loved ones, for this is YOUR shoulder, my support in my life.

I accept life as it is, because how can I not accept YOU, YOUR lessons. Everything that exists is from YOU and for my good, and therefore I THANK YOU for the very opportunity to live and accept my path, no matter how difficult it may be.

I accept all the trials that were, are and will be in my life, because IT WAS from YOU and for me!

I THANK YOU for everything that was, is and will be in my life - for joy, for pain, for hatred and LOVE, for IT WAS from YOU and for me!

In any trials, I promise to be faithful to YOU. Which means LOVE!

I choose life - service, FATHER! For I know that I can serve YOU only with one thing - MY LOVE! And I know that it is born in the experience of life itself, in the pain and trials that you send us. But life without LOVE has no meaning. So they calcined my life to a diamond state, and if there is not enough wood in the smelting furnace, then here is my body to YOU, LORD.

Please accept my GRATITUDE for the life you have lived! This is YOUR LOVE in my heart, I have kept it, FATHER! This is my LOVE in my heart, I have learned to LOVE! And only you, FATHER, know the measure of my LOVE!

I am your daughter, FATHER!!!

And the measure of my LOVE is the measure of my freedom.” Source - Konstantin Nikulin. World of positive.

How to recognize pride in yourself?

To the question: “How to recognize pride in yourself?” — Jacob, Archbishop of Nizhny Novgorod, writes the following: “To understand, to feel it, notice how you feel when those around you do something not your way, against your will. If what is born in you first of all is not the thought of meekly correcting a mistake made by others, but displeasure and anger, then know that you are proud and deeply proud.

If even the slightest failures in your affairs sadden you and cause boredom and burden, etc. and the thought of God’s Providence participating in our affairs does not amuse you, then know that you are proud and deeply proud. If you are hot to your own needs and cold to the needs of others, then know that you are proud and deeply proud. If, at the sight of the troubles of others, even your enemies, you feel happy, and at the sight of the unexpected happiness of your neighbors you feel sad, then know that you are proud and deeply proud. If modest remarks about your shortcomings are offensive to you, and praise about your unprecedented merits is pleasant and delightful for you, then know that you are proud and deeply proud.” What else can you add to these signs to recognize pride in yourself? Is it just that if a person is attacked by fear, then this is also a sign of pride. Saint John Climacus writes about it this way: “A proud soul is a slave of fear; trusting in herself, she is afraid of the faint sound of creatures, and the shadows themselves. The fearful often lose their minds, and rightly so. For the Lord righteously leaves the proud, so as to teach others not to be arrogant.” And he also writes: “The image of extreme pride is that a person, for the sake of glory, hypocritically shows virtues that he does not have.” www.logoslovo.ru

PS. In today's Russian language, the word pride has several meanings. For example, “I am proud of his action” means “I am glad or very approving of his action.” This post speaks exclusively about “pride” in its spiritual meaning, which existed mainly before 1917. In Dahl’s dictionary, there is the following definition: “Proud - Arrogant, arrogant, arrogant; pompous, arrogant; who puts himself above others." This kind of “pride” is the subject of this post.

Get rid of pride, because pride brings with it constant grievances and conflicts with loved ones; it does not allow problems to be solved productively and is a sign of egocentrism, which does not allow a person to move forward on the path of personal development.

How to get rid of pride? Start by reviewing your principles and beliefs, your “shoulds” and “musts” and try to replace them with “I want” and “it would be nice.” To discover these painful beliefs that give rise to pride, in the most ordinary life situations, look for the thought that makes you feel offended or irritated.

If you allow yourself to let go for a while of the control that prevents you from realizing this thought, if you want to be frank with yourself, you will definitely be able to find the core of your troubles. Do not condemn in your thoughts and words the people who, in your opinion, have committed immoral acts: after all, your point of view is not the only one and not the most correct one, it is simply different. Do not consider people to owe or owe something to you personally or to the world as a whole - this is not true. Try to do good secretly, hidden from people. After all, doing good for the sake of someone knowing about it is not selfish: this is also the result of pride.

And success to you on this difficult path - the path of ridding yourself of pride!

Signs of the sin of pride

Pride is the mother of all sins, because the proud person considers himself superior to everyone and has the right to do whatever he wants. Naturally, in this case, a person’s fall from grace can happen faster than if he were modest.

Proud people insult and belittle other people.

In addition, he is arrogant, power-hungry, and vindictive. Almost all vices are characteristic of a proud person, but he usually attributes virtues to himself.

In order to stop injustice in time and save himself, a person needs to know that there are the following signs of pride:

the desire to exalt oneself and one’s achievements;
excessive selfishness, arrogance, and a desire to brag about one’s achievements;
touchiness, resentment, desire to always be first;
lust for power, desire to command;
pleasure from humiliating other people, contempt for them.

Proud people do not understand that God can bring upon them the vices that they see in other people. A person is not able to fully and fairly evaluate the people around him.

You cannot read the thoughts of not only your enemy, but even your friend. In addition, repentance is usually not visible, but only passions are visible.

Our Lord Jesus Christ did not accuse anyone and did not denounce people, even those who fell into terrible sin. The Gospel of John says:

“...he who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

(Chapter 8, Art. 7)

These words were addressed to the scribes and Pharisees, who were proud of their learning. The Savior always said that while a person’s life journey is not over, he always has the opportunity to follow the true path and correct everything.

Only the Supreme Court after death draws a line under earthly life.

This must be remembered when discussing why pride is the most terrible sin.

What does pride create?

Negative attitude. It is caused by complete disrespect, contempt, and ignorance of other people and their values.
Negative emotions that corrode the soul. Qualities such as contempt, disrespect, envy, sarcasm, disgust and rejection, anger, and resentment make a person deeply unhappy.
No response. Communication with such people is quite difficult. As a rule, there is a desire to close yourself off from them and not encounter them again. Only wise and strong individuals are able to sympathize with those who are infected with pride.
"Soap bubble". Man relies on illusions. Unfortunately, this is a false greatness. In most cases there is nothing behind it.
Vulnerability. Such individuals are immune to any criticism. They are suspicious, touchy and aggressive. Losing external support, and therefore feeding their “I,” they “deflate” like a rubber balloon. After all, they have no real support.
Self-intoxication. The owner of pride believes that he has already achieved everything. This opinion does not allow you to set new goals and strive to achieve them.
Conflict. One of the common traits inherent in such individuals. Unfortunately, this often destroys trust, feelings and kindness.

The proud man is deceived by the Devil

Speaking about pride, it is necessary to remember about such a concept as spiritual charm. Seduction is the activity of the Enemy of the human race who has taken the form of an angel or even Christ himself. A person captivated by it can do unusual things.

So a proud person, for example, may believe that he has achieved a lot in science due to the fact that he is “special”, a genius. However, the basis of such a statement is the desire for fame. There is no question of humility here.

If we talk about those proud people who are within the church fence, then many heretics have fallen into the sin of pride. Hence the declaration of themselves as prophets and saints, or statements about the gift of prophecy.

Such prominent ascetics as elders Joseph the Hesychast, Paisius the Svyatogorets and Daniel of Katunak wrote about the danger of spiritual seduction for the Orthodox.

Pride and arrogance are synonyms

Nowadays, many directions in psychology and psychological schools have appeared that claim that pride is an integral quality of a person. It is said that a person's personality will be incomplete if he does not take pride in himself.

There are even special trainings aimed at increasing the level of self-esteem.

The Orthodox Church clearly states that pride and arrogance are synonymous words. Very often in the Bible, when speaking about the fact that this or that person is sinful, it is said that he is proud.

At the same time, secular people point out that the word “pride” is mentioned, for example, in relation to the Patronymic and Motherland.

You cannot declare pride in something without putting effort into it.

In this regard, the Orthodox must remember that a believer needs to be proud of his spiritual feat or what the Lord has given him.

Naturally, pride is not completely equal to arrogance, but it can easily turn into it. The same applies to pride and vanity.

With all your spiritual problems and needs, you need to go to church, and not turn to the dubious services of business coaches and psychologists.

So what is pride: a feeling or an emotion?

First of all, of course, emotion. You are proud of the achievements of your country, your child, your neighbor. Be proud that through great work you were able to reach the top in creativity and science.

Why not be proud - invested in the desire to be the best and knowledgeable

It is important not to overstep the boundaries between pride and arrogance, not to lose a sense of proportion when your true pride simply develops into arrogance and arrogance

Being truly proud, you will defend your achievements and try to help your neighbor. Becoming a participant in a big business is also a great success.

But as soon as you become selfish and stop respecting the opinions of others, this is where pride is born. A person imagines himself to be all-knowing, loses his own dignity, values only himself and his achievements.

You need to not only understand this, but also experience it for yourself - as soon as you begin to consider yourself right in everything, stop learning and listening to your interlocutor - misunderstanding is born and justice and Honor are lost.

Pride is the mother of all sins, since the proud person replaces God with himself

Pride is the sin of Lucifer and for this reason alone it can be called the “mother” of all sins. Just as the Devil put his “I” above God, so the proud man says that he is important, and not those around him.

Naturally, if he finds himself in another team, he may meet the same proud person. As a result, hostility may begin, fraught with the most serious consequences.

No other sin can generate as many sins around itself as pride.

The sinner, in this case, claims to be God.

Thus, he renounces Him and, from his point of view, everything is allowed to him. Examples from history confirm this conclusion, because how much suffering revolutionaries and God-fighters of all stripes brought to people!

Pride is strongly condemned in the Bible

Pride is mentioned several times in the Bible. All mentions of her are sharply negative and have a negative characterization. So in the Old Testament, in the Book of Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach, it is said:

“The beginning of sin is pride.”

(Sir. 10:15 rs)

It is from this statement that the Orthodox derive the postulate that pride is the mother of all sins.

The Bible also says that God hates pride:

“...pride and arrogance and the evil way and deceitful lips I hate.”

(Proverbs 8:13)

In addition, He punishes the proud, resists them, and gives grace to the humble:

“...God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

(James 4:6)

Destruction of the Tower of Babel

There are many examples in Scripture when the Lord punished the proud. The most striking of them is the destruction of the Tower of Babel. By the way, such punishment is provided not only for non-believers, but also for believers.

The most terrible consequence of pride can be that a person rejects God’s truth from himself. The fact is that pride does not allow a person to admit that he is a sinner.

The worst consequence of pride is the rejection of God's truth.

This, in turn, will not allow the person to repent of his sins. An unrepentant person will not turn to the Creator for forgiveness. Thus, blinding the mind, pride leads a person to eternal destruction.

Punishment for pride

Lucifer was the closest angel to God. But pride deprived him of the joy of being with God and he turned into a focus of anger. The first people lost eternal life for their pride and were expelled from paradise. Along with them, their entire land was cursed. The humanity they gave birth to is forced throughout earthly history to struggle with the manifestations of their own passions that come out of this main passion.

But the greatest sadness for them was the agonizing expectation of the coming of the Savior and His Resurrection from the dead. Only after this did Christ lead all the righteous who were waiting for Him from the prison of hell.

A proud man punishes himself. First, sin cuts him off from unfamiliar or unfamiliar people, then from family and friends, and then from God. And this is the worst thing.

“I had not yet begun my deeds of piety, but I was already infected with vanity. I have not yet entered the vestibule, and I am already dreaming of the inner sanctuary. I have not yet laid down the beginnings of a life pleasing to God, and I am already reproaching my neighbors,” St. Ephraim the Syrian writes about himself.

Humility is the way to escape from pride

In order to defeat such a sin as pride, it is necessary to acquire the opposite virtue. This virtue is humility.

It is about humbling yourself before your neighbors. If you are possessed by pride, you need to honor your brother as wiser than yourself and superior in everything. Abba Dorotheos defined it this way:

Abba Dorotheus

saint

“... consider yourself lower than everyone else.”

Similarly, one can see in others many good, kind qualities that are hidden in others. By humbling yourself, humiliating yourself, you can also see in yourself those shortcomings that our pride does not allow us to see.

It exaggerates our merits, which may not correspond to reality.

Self-reproach should promote humility.

That is, it is necessary to blame not others for all troubles, but oneself. A person must always remember his sins and compare them with his achievements. This will allow you to sober up in time and not fall into pride.

In this regard, it is worth citing as an example the act of Our Lord Jesus Christ when he washed the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper. In Jewish tradition, servants were required to wash their feet before meals.

Last Supper. Monumental painting by Leonardo da Vinci

Thus, by washing the feet of the Apostle Peter, Christ made it clear that he came into the world to serve people, and not for them to serve him. This is a vivid example of humility and every Orthodox Christian should follow it.

At the same time, it is necessary to resist all fashion trends that are the machinations of the Devil. So, recently various courses and trainings have become widespread, which state that pride needs to be cultivated.

Naturally, a person must live in harmony with himself. However, cultivating superiority over others is clearly a sin of pride.

Words that are similar only in sound?

Words that are similar in spelling and sound are paronyms. They are so similar that they may seem to have the same root, but unlike truly related words, their meanings are very different. Based on the meanings indicated in dictionaries, it is usually concluded that positive pride and negative pride are similar words to each other. This implies that their meanings are very different /

But what is the difference between pride and arrogance? It is generally accepted that pride is a natural and positive emotion when achieving success. A person may be proud of a job well done, winning a sporting event, or acquiring knowledge or things. Speaking about pride as a positive feeling, they give examples of joy for one’s own child who has entered a university, or respect for another person who has achieved some success.

Pride is defined as the tendency to consider oneself better than others, extolling one’s own personality, but belittling the dignity of other people. At the same time, it is often confused with arrogance (the tendency to judge a person’s merits by their position in society), and with vanity (the desire to receive recognition or praise for owning something), and with self-affirmation (the desire to increase self-esteem by judging another). Of course, the listed qualities can hardly be called positive personality traits.

But is it rare that parents, proud of their child’s achievements, consider themselves to be the reason for this? They have such a high opinion of their teaching talents that they do not notice the achievements of their son or daughter’s peers, especially if they themselves have little interest in the area in which other children achieve success. Extolling the virtues of their child, who has won a small victory, they form in him vanity, a desire for self-affirmation, and arrogance.

Pride in one's country can lead to chauvinism. In this case, too, there is rarely a question of respecting the neighboring state or other peoples. The victory of the football team is equated with the exaggerated value of every citizen of the country who supports the team, although real success belongs only to the athletes.

There are many examples. They all boil down to this: where pride is found, pride is always present. A positive emotion at some elusive moment becomes its opposite. How big is the difference between pride and arrogance and does it exist at all?

In the fight against pride, you need to trust in God

An Orthodox person must always remember that without God's help he cannot cope with sins. So all the advice on how to fight pride will be empty if you don’t turn to the temple for help.

Only here, by repenting and praying, can one obtain God’s intercession. No amount of self-exercise or self-hypnosis will help you receive God’s grace and weapons against the Devil.

Video: How to get rid of pride? (Archpriest Vladimir Golovin).

It should be noted that diligent parishioners are usually not susceptible to this sin. The fact is that they constantly communicate with the priest, who can help them in case of difficulty.

In addition, by associating with pious people, you can learn modesty from them. Modesty and humility are the main weapons in the fight against the sin of pride.

How to overcome the sin of pride?

Photo: Flickr.com

To effectively combat pride, you must first understand and acknowledge that it affects a person. Having realized the sin of pride, and having demonstrated a desire to actively fight it, you should do the following:

it is worth praying to God more often, sincerely asking him for help in the fight against sinful addiction;
It is worth learning to understand the value of every creature on earth.
you must show humility, sincerely, with all your heart, trying to help people who need it;
you must love the Lord and your neighbor, because true love helps to completely overcome pride;

Pride is often caused by negative emotions and reasoning that cause aggression and irritation. If a person experiences these negative states, you must immediately get back on track and begin to combat them, restoring your psychological and spiritual health.

Recognizing and overcoming pride can be very difficult, but if this is not done in a timely manner, then you can forever remain a hostage to hell, not knowing the love of God.

Comments

aunt
:
07/24/2020 at 13:41
that is, if there are only one worthless and ungrateful redneck around, enjoying the fruits of your labor and creativity and considering themselves significant with off-scale emotionality and they really take advantage of you, you have no right to even think that you are at least a cut above them, and should not put them in in place?????? Is this Pokakovsky? and who thought about it? I will invent and create, and this brat will take and consider that we are equal? Are you crazy?
Answer

By leaving a comment, you accept the user agreement

So what is pride: a feeling or an emotion?

Why not be proud - invested in the desire to be the best and knowledgeable

It is important not to overstep the boundaries between pride and arrogance, not to lose a sense of proportion when your true pride simply develops into arrogance and arrogance

Being truly proud, you will defend your achievements and try to help your neighbor. Becoming a participant in a big business is also a great success.