Pride....... Rotten stinking pride...

I'm sure we are all guilty of having too little or not enough pride at some point in our lives. Although having too little pride is bad, the alternative is very destructive and harmful. When I think of all the pain pride has caused it brings me to tears. Families divided, churches split, and friendships lost. Just in the past few years it is amazing how pride has led the way. Pride will prevent the heart from doing what it right and allow your brain to do what is wrong.

When I looked up the antonym to the word pride I was surprised by what I found. Its opposite is modesty. M-o-d-e-s-t-y. Hmmmmm. Let us ponder for a moment. There are so many people I know that take such great pride in being modest. But if the opposite of pride is modesty........ I'm getting confused now. How can modesty be the opposite of pride? All my life I have seen this example put before me of people who were so proud of their modesty. Did they have it wrong all this time? Did their pride cancel out the effect of their modesty? I think if we all examine the proudest examples of modesty will find people with the emptiest of souls. They display their modesty so proudly to the point that it becomes just that, a display. While I reflect on my own life I realize there was a point I too was one of those people. Not so much prideful of my modesty, so much as my pride in myself in general. Again, pride like so many things, is good in moderation. Thankfully many of us have escaped an environment that breeds such destructive pride. We should always strive to remember the past lest we repeat it.

I leave you with some quotes I located on the World Wide Web. Enjoy, and have a modest day.

Pride attaches undue importance to the superiority of one's status in the eyes of others; and shame is fear of humiliation at one's inferior status in the estimation of others. When one sets his heart on being highly esteemed, and achieves such rating, then he is automatically involved in fear of losing his status

It is better to lose your pride with someone you love rather than to lose that someone you love with your useless pride.

Feeling jealous????

The world wide web is full of useful knowledge. My wife found a site last night that had some interesting quotes on the subject of jealousy. Here are a few.



Jealousy in romance is like salt in food. A little can enhance the savor, but too much can spoil the pleasure and, under certain circumstances, can be life-threatening. ~Maya Angelou



Jealousy is the great exaggerator. ~Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, The Conspiracy of Fiesco, 1783



Envy is the most stupid of vices, for there is no single advantage to be gained from it. ~Honore de Balzac



And my favorite,



Jealousy is simply and clearly the fear that you do not have value. Jealousy scans for evidence to prove the point - that others will be preferred and rewarded more than you. There is only one alternative - self-value. If you cannot love yourself, you will not believe that you are loved. You will always think it's a mistake or luck. Take your eyes off others and turn the scanner within. Find the seeds of your jealousy, clear the old voices and experiences. Put all the energy into building your personal and emotional security. Then you will be the one others envy, and you can remember the pain and reach out to them. ~Jennifer James



I've never understood jealousy. Although I feel I don't get jealous I am sure at some point in my life I have been jealous. I don't remember it ever gaining me anything though. I have seen jealousy destroy the most proud of men. They could have all the money and fame in the world but the simplest, poorest of men can have something they want. The old saying "money can't buy happiness" comes into play here. I've seen jealousy rip family’s apart and split churches, and over what? So and so has something I want or they do something better than me? As adults and Christians we have to recognize jealousy and destroy it.

Jealousy in the end boils down to insecurity. Most problems in life can come down to someone being insecure about something. When you see someone else that looks better than you or seems happier than you or makes more money than you that insecurity transforms into jealousy, and in turn you will become consumed and not even realize it. We should all strive to except ourselves and love ourselves. If we, deep down inside, hate ourselves and consider ourselves a failure when compared to others we will never be able to show true love. Being able to truly love others means that you have found a way to love yourself with all your strengths and weaknesses.

In the end, find your own value as you see it. not measured against someone else. You will either find people weaker than you that make you feel better about yourself or you will find people that you will never measure up too. Strive to be the best you can be. Not the best in someone else’s eyes.

True friendship

Found this today while looking around on the net. Enjoy."Have no friends not equal to yourself." - Confucius

A true friend is someone to be cherished. One possible definition of a true friend is someone who always has your best interests in mind and wishes to see you succeed just as much as they wish themselves to succeed. Moreover, a friend is someone with whom you can discuss anything without fear of judgment and with the confidence that, despite your flaws, they will always be there for you the next time you need them.

A true friend points out your flaws and tells you how to improve upon them. An associate merely notices these same defects and says nothing. Many good friends try to motivate each other by using the other's achievements as a yardstick and an incentive. In this sense, friends are rivals as well, albeit friendly ones, as they are constantly competing against one another. However, paradoxically, friends are competitors that are playing for the same team.

A friend must also be steadfast in his commitment. This can be burdensome on occasion, and thus a loyal friend is not only rare but also often difficult to recognize.A true friend is difficult to find, so if you don't have any, don't fret. Most men could not claim to have a friend like the one described above. If you are lucky enough to have a true friend, be as loyal to them as you are to yourself.


In life people rarely have the opportunity to have a lot of "true friends". At the ripe ole age of 28 I can count only five for myself. You know who you are and the feelings are mutual. People who have no true friends should strive to be a true friend first. It is when you achieve that goal that you begin to recognize who your true friends are. With all of my true friends I have seen them in the best and worst of times and likewise they have with me. I know that at a moment’s notice I can pick my phone up and call or text and they will be there for me and I would do the same for them. Most people who have no true friends generally have an aversion to real friendship. It’s when you make yourself completely vulnerable that you find out what is in your friend's heart. Will they judge you or will they accept you? Will they comfort you or will they discard you because of the responsibility that comes with being a true friend. A true friend is not lazy with their loyalty. They display it proudly just not always publicly. So if you have a true friend let them know how much they mean to you. You never know when you might need them.