Prompt 31: November 1, 2023
It is often stated that pride is among the greatest of the sins. After all, pride appears to be the root cause of many other sins. Pride, in the form of the desire for elevated knowledge, or to be more than they were, led Adam and Eve to eat the fruit. Pride, the act of self-preservation over shameless love, led to Peter’s denial and the fulfillment of prophecy on the night of the crucifixion. Pride led Lot’s wife to believe that she would be allowed a small act of disobedience which transformed her into a pillar of salt.
This final occurrence of pride is what I would like to highlight. Pride’s prevalence throughout all of humanity’s misery and misdoings is telling of the battles that every Christian must face. Yet, pride will not cease to create chaos so long as man remains in his current state. What remedy do we have then? Only that which Christ came to share. Forgiveness.
Just as pride is easily viewed as the root issue of our race’s condition, forgiveness can be easily seen as its undoing. After all, who is not familiar with the Christian concept of forgiveness? It was among the most blatant teachings of Jesus. Yet, as pride sneaks through our subconsciousness as a cancer, the obviousness of forgiveness slips out of mind.
In my own battle against pride over the last several years, I have often found myself sorely lacking in forgiveness, both in offering it to others and in asking for it myself. I have no issue apologizing to others. I have no issue apologizing to God. But I have discovered that where I really struggle is asking for forgiveness rather than to be excused.
Lot’s wife turned to look upon the destruction that God called down and was punished in finality for it. Although simply a small act of curiosity, her action was in direct disobedience to God. It seems she felt that a glance would be an excusable level of disobedience. I wonder how often I sin in full, knowing disobedience because I believe it to be excusable. CS Lewis, ever the embodiment of wisdom in my mind, has an essay, On Forgiveness, which speaks to these very issues.
To excuse, what can really produce good excuses is not Christian charity; it is only fairness. To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.
I see the relationship between pride and forgiveness as the daily decision that we must each make in how we live. How does the devil spread his evil across the world? With pride. How does the Lord overcome it? In forgiveness.
If we are to be the Church, God’s hand in action for mankind, we must learn to forgive and not let its importance, its true meaning, grow stale. Yes, forgiveness is easily associated with the Christian mission. But it is among Christianity’s most difficult practices. It begins with each of us, every day, in small moments. Where does it start for you?
The thread is open. Create boldly, and may the Spirit guide us all