Pride

What is the difference between pride and selfishness?

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re-post —- originally posted in 2/15 and shows reference to then President Obama
The other day I had a discussion with someone and I stated that I believed selfishness to be the ultimate sin. They replied stating no it is pride.
Now I will not argue that in the Bible it does implicate that it is pride, but let’s take a good look at that word.

Pride a high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc. Per Dictionary.com
This SELF-glorification and believe that you are better then all others. Is this not a selfish, self-serving mentality? Yes it is. So to me there is absolutely no difference between these two words. In fact they seem to complement each other.
In Luke 14 Jesus states this: “For whosoever exalteth (be prideful) himself shall be abased (be brought low); and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. “
Jesus also states that those that wish to lead need to be a servant unto those that you wish to lead (Mark 10:44). This again is humility and the lack of pride and selfishness. Most in some type of leadership roll these days are not humble. They are prideful and many are selfish and self-serving.
We need to seek out leaders that are reluctant to lead, but still capable of doing so. Ones that seeks the true good for all, placing all others before themselves and their own personal agenda.
“But there is no such person!” you shout out. That is a possibility, but still we must seek one out and support such people, for if we do we can fix more than has been fixed in the last decade. Most of this last decade has had a person in the White House that is petty, selfish, self-serving and only wish to place forth ideas and doctrines that have resulted in a nation in crisis.
All because there is no true understanding of the Bible by most of those that live in the United States for they are “too busy” to take the time to learn what is right, what is pure and what is holy. For only some that fully reads and understands the Bible can hope to achieve what is glorious in the sight of God, and they can only accomplish this through humility.

Pride: the killer of a nation

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Why do I say this? I have listened and I have read the reasons people are saying why they will not vote for the person with the best change to defeat the criminal Hilary Clinton. When you boil it down and get to the root of the issue. All I hear is “pride.”
The dictionary defines “pride” as this for this particular occasion:
“The belief that you are better or more important than other people.”
But let’s not stop there let’s look at it in the Hebrew and then the Greek as well:
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
ga’own: arrogancy – arrogance – proud in an unpleasant way and behaving as if you are better or more important than other people
Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
geah: pride – arrogance
1 Timothy 3:4 – One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; 5 (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) 6 Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
Tuphoo – I puff up, make haughty; pass: I am puffed up, am haughty
Haughty – unfriendly and seeming to consider yourself better than other people.
At the core of all the talk this is what I hear.
“I cannot lower myself to cast this vote.”
“I will be tarnishing my faith if I do this. I am better than this.”
Here is what the Bible states that I feel is important:
Galatians 6:1 – Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. 2 Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. 3 If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. 4 Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. 5 For we are each responsible for our own conduct. 6 Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them.
Philippians 2:1- Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. 3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
Should we not be thinking of other?
Should we not being thinking of that unborn child yet to be conceived that will be killed before it can even breathe it first breath of air?
Should we not be considering those that are poor and suffering because of open boarders which is allowing those that will work illegally for less than the minimum wage to steal jobs from your fellow citizens of this nation?
Will we allow those that would steal your security from you so that they may make you cower in fear since the lawless will become more emboldened?
If the answer to these questions is “yes, yes, yes and no.” Then we should humble ourselves and swallow our pride and push the button for that person that is most likely not to cause those very thinks I just mentioned form taking place. These very things which are guaranteed under Hilary Clinton.
Romans 12:1 – And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. 3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.

Pride in workmanship………..

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That title to me is a misnomer. Why? Because that is something that is no longer present for the most part in the United States. Pride in workmanship is not something that just happens. It is something that is instilled into a person.
Pride, which is the key to the statement. Actual pride in what you do. The ability to do something that no one else can do. The ability to do something better then someone else; to make something that will endure; to me those are the hallmarks of pride.
Where someone gets the desire to seek this type of pride does not just appear when you are an adult though. That is why I stated it is something that is instilled into a person.
It is something that happens as someone grows into adulthood. It happens not only in the home, but also at school and even church (synagogue, mosque, temple, etc. etc.)
When I was in high school, I helped put together my schools literary magazine that we published once a year. I am a technical artist to a degree. I made a pen and ink drawing and used many techniques that are used in drafting. The picture was good enough to be voted to be the centerfold for the magazine. That instilled a lot of pride into me. That is just one example of how taking pride in the things I do was instilled into me.
It is event and other things that equal to this that happen in those impressionable years that help to make people take pride in what they do.
I mentioned in church one time that I knew how to make a house to a degree. The person I talked to asked when did work for a construction company. I told them I did not. I learned it on Junior High School. He was younger than I was, so I asked him did they not teach you stuff like that in school. His reply was no.
It is hearing statements like that, and hearing on the news on how they are no longer teaching our youth to succeed in the world. I then understand why products made in the United States fall apart. I stopped buying American autos in the early eighties because they literally fell apart in just over a year of purchasing them. The same can be said for electronic products made in the states as well. I went from praising General Motor and RCA to being a loyal buyer of Nissan and Samsung.
One of the best educational systems in the world is in Japan by the way. One of the worst is the United States, and it is getting worse since the implantation of Common Core. They are no longer teaching our child how to survive in the adult world, instead they really are not teaching them anything at all. Yet they are spending more money even with inflation’s adjustments. So for more money to teach our children we get less from it to the point of them going into the adult world unprepared or even filled with any type of pride within themselves?
In all actuality, it is schools that are destroying our children and not instilling pride any longer, but parents are at fault as well, but schools are worse.
In the past, one of the major strengths that marked this nation as great was the desire to educate all. Now we are witnessing the effects of not having this demand. One of the main issues is the teachers we have as this time. Not all of them as a point of fact, but still more then there should be. This is due, in a major part, to unions. Not only for teachers, but also for many major industries in this nation.
Within them, the need for pride has been pushed out the door, literally. So an attitude of none caring has saturated into those that have taught for many years within the system. When new teachers enter into the system, they still have pride and wish to pass this self-respect to their students. Unfortunately, due to how the system is setup these teachers in many cases find themselves pushed out the door and are no longer teachers. Why? Because they did not have enough seniority and those that need to be forced out are left within the schools to pass on their complacency instead of the pride the younger teachers wish to have past on to their pupils.
When an organization supports the destruction of a society it is something that should not be allowed to continue. If reforming these organizations is the fix then it needs to be done. If totally removing them needs to be done then it should be.
When a system supports the destruction of pride from our children it should be reformed into something that will restore bringing pride back into the minds and hearts of our children.
Without pride which gives someone self-worth, self-confidence, self-assurance and the desire in anything they do to be the best they can make of it. Then this nation will continue to diminish and become another Rome Empire. Another nation destroyed due to a corrupt system of government and education.