ONLY BY PRIDE COMMETH CONTENTION

Let me start by throwing a bomb shed, don’t crucify me yet just hold on and read carefully.

‘’Pride is not just exalting yourself beyond expectations but also debasing yourself beyond expectations’’.

When you exalt yourself above normal, feeling better than others like we are on top of the world and no one can stop us, that is pride quite alright but that is just one the characteristics of pride. Timidity, shyness, low self-esteem is also a manifestation of pride.

Pride is not only thinking we are better than others; pride can be thinking we are worse than others or just being self-conscious. It doesn't matter if self is always exalting itself or if it's debasing itself. It's all self-centeredness, which is pride.

Only by pride cometh contention meaning pride is the only thing that causes contention. (Contention in other words is strife, dispute, anger, disagreement etc.) It's not what others do to us that make us angry; it's the pride inside of us that causes us to get mad. I know that's not what most people believe, but that's what God's Word says. This verse (prov 13:10) doesn't say that pride is one of the major reasons for anger — it's the only reason. Now that’s what I call a revelation!

Many people come from backgrounds where strife was just normal. Our culture is so full of envy and strife that it's become part of life. We don't realize how deadly it is. But realize it or not, strife will kill you. Listen to what James had to say about envy and strife:

"For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work." (James 3:16)

Think about what this verse is saying for a moment. Envy and strife bring EVERY evil work. That is quite a revelation! You could be giving tithes and offerings and trusting God in the area of your finances, but if you're living in strife, you are opening the door to poverty. You could be trying to take care of your body and meditating on healing scriptures, yet envy and strife will negate all of that and bring sickness and disease. No one who is trusting God for victory in any area of their life can ignore dealing with anger and expect to succeed. It's that important… (cited Andrew Wommack)

You could be faced with a lot of problems and think pride isn't one of them. If anything, you could have such low self-esteem that you hate yourself yet have a lot of anger inside you and not understand how my pride is the source of your anger but I tell you what you are missing is the proper definition of pride.

Many people think of pride only as arrogance. But that's only one manifestation of pride. Timidity and shyness are extreme manifestations of pride. Pride, at its core, is simply self-centeredness or selfishness. Timid and shy people are extremely self-centered people. "What are they going to think of me? Am I going to make a mistake and look foolish?" That is self-centeredness and if you continue like this you become an introvert, an extremely shy person because you are always thinking about yourself and what others would think of you. Self, self self, me ,me, me, I, I, I. it’s bad, stop it!

If you have a testimony about what the Lord has done for you that could help someone, yet you would be timid about sharing it because everyone would be looking at you, then you have some pride issues that haven't been settled.

"Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." (1 Pet. 3:15)

If you can sing and you are asked to sing, saying you can’t sing does not make you humble, same as dancing, playing the instruments, preaching and so on. Moses told his people that God said he was the meekest man on earth and he said it loud and clear, he was happy. If I should stand up in my church and say God said am the meekest person in this church, praise God! I said God said that I am the meekest person in this church Praise, God! Praise God in Jesus name ( you'll answer Halleluyah yourself) trust me their looks will kill you.

Like it or not, understand it or not, pride is the source of all of our anger. As we deal with our own self-love, anger toward others will be defused. The only reason we are so easily offended is that we love ourselves so much. As we die to ourselves, we will be able to love others the way that Jesus.

This article is directly from my blog saefpoem.blogspot.com