"PRIDE GOES BEFORE DESTRUCTION"

Good Evening to All!

When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom. The integrity of the upright will guide them: but the perverseness of the unfaithful will destroy them.
(Proverbs 11:2-3 NKJV)

(Now for those of you who are like I am and am not sure exactly what perverseness means, I looked up the word perverse. According to my Webster's, it means obstinate, ungovernable, sinful, contrary, fractious, peevish, forward, disobedient, wicked, intractable or petulant).

I have seen pride cause many, many problems in my lifetime. Not just for me, but for others around me.

I have seen families lose their vehicles or even homes because of pride. The men (or women) were so proud that they felt like because they had a college degree, they had to work in that specific field, even if there were no jobs to be had in their location, so they would rather sit and moan about it than go out and look for whatever they could find until something "better" came along. Needless to say they ended up losing everything.

If they would have gotten a lesser paying job, and paid some on their bills rather than having an "all or nothing" kind of attitude, their creditors might have worked with them and they would have been ok.

God has really blessed us in that area. We have been poor, such as when my husband was laid off from the painters union years ago. We went over three months just living on what I made as a waitress. Yes, we got behind on our rent, and the neighbor across the way was kind enough to allow us to fish in his tank for bass and catfish, so we didn't starve. We finally gave up and told the landlord that we were going to have to move because our debt was getting to far out of hand for me to handle with just waitress wages, and luckily he understood. He didn't say it, but he was probably relieved. He was a good Christian man who didn't want to "put us out", but was losing money by us staying there.


My pride had gotten the better of me and I kept saying that I would catch our rent up. We should have quit trying long before we did and left, but we kept hoping another painting job would start up, because that is what my husband's foreman kept telling him when he called.

I have been guilty of being too proud to ask for help when I was working on something and ended up messing it up and having to start over again with someone's help.

I tell you, I don't know why it is SO HARD to say that little word. It's not that I am arrogant, (FAR FROM IT), it is more that I am embarrassed because I feel like I should be able to do certain things without help. I think that's my low self-esteem, or lack of confidence showing through.

Anyway, since I have come closer to God, and started studying His Word, it has helped me tremendously to NOT be so prideful, and to ask for help when I need it. I still get embarrassed, but not like I use to.

One thing I have started telling myself is that when I ask someone for help, it is like I am giving them a chance to be blessed, because God blesses those who help others. That may sound silly to some, but that is how I deal with increasing my humility.

We must all take a look at ourselves and check our spirits for pride. I'm not talking about the good pride that is caring about the way you look meaning clean, and neat. I'm talking about taking pride in yourself and making sure that you are of good character and people can depend on you to do what is right. That is the good kind of pride.

The bad kind of pride can sneak up on us before we know it, and so many bad things can happen. What is worse, is that pride's consequences can reach out much further than just ourselves. It's results can reach family, friends and even strangers.

Humility makes many more friends than does arrogance.

I doubt if I will be posting tomorrow as we will be getting things ready to load for our Fishing Trip Monday morning. We will be gone at least a week, and if the fish are biting maybe more. I will be taking my laptop along so if I'm not too tired from fishing I will post. If you don't see a post from me, you will know that I'm catching lots of fish! LOL!

Good Night to All and May God Bless,