Sayings

“Pride is so subtle that if we aren’t careful we’ll be proud of our humility. When this happens our goodness becomes badness. Our virtues become vices. We can easily become like the Sunday School teacher who, having told the story of the Pharisee and the publican, said, ‘Children, let’s bow our heads and thank God we are not like the Pharisee!’” 

Today’s phrase is the well known saying “Pride comes before a fall.” And comes from Proverbs Proverbs 16:18-20 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud. Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.”

C S Lewis in his book Mere Christianity speaks of pride in this way. “…..pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.” He goes as far to say for humankind that the presence of pride results in that, “There's one part love in your heart, and five parts anger, and seven parts pride.”

Of such pride, Jesus said, “For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Like 14:11)

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

- Attributed to Sir Francis Drake, c. 1577