The prideful soul

Often we come across some people that question us as people. Often people just want to understand us as people. However that being said there are people that have no good intentions when they make it a point of being harsh with others. Understanding that many people lash out at others because of their own insecurities and not because the person they lash out at is out of line. Case in point I add to this my own life experiences. I had my issues with self and had to work past it. I spent a few years ago doing the best I felt I could in work and church stuff.

 I found often when problems came up some would blame others for the things that went wrong. I would often see many of these people plainly blaming others for their own short falls. These problems would over time work out somehow and these persons didn’t go to those they had blamed to make amends. Thus we see more of the human short fall of pride. I did at one work place I had have in the past a supervisor that I feel to be one of the best at handling not so good of situations , conflict, and was so good at swallowing pride he could make you feel good about a reprimanding. He would many times go some place first to blow off steam before facing the issue and confronting persons involved. Needless to say he gained respect from others every place he went. He gave me a great comparison for what a great boss is as to one that could improve. Lesson to be taken from this is pride sets people back from being able to relate to others.  To this day I have the up most respect for this boss for being real and not puffed up with Himself. Many of the bosses that could do some improving made expectations for others higher than they would hold for themselves. Expecting surreal expectations of others and then blaming them for not achieving what they wanted. Example would be expecting someone to climb a rock climb rated at 5.14 knowing that it is craziness and being upset that they can’t seem to get four feet of the ground. The person setting the expectation having only the ability to climb 5.5 and struggling greatly at even that.

Many people know the issues in my life and know that me leading a group or standing out is way out of it for me. I was put in with the young men in church about eighteen or so years ago. Incidentally I ended up in helping with them for about fourteen years. In the time I was in there I struggled with doing what I could. Never feeling that I was ever doing the job as good as it should be. I remember the help I was given well. One of the assistants that worked with me was a mostly in active member who was more than willing to help and fantastic in the out of doors. Those young men looked to him as a friend and leader. There were many that criticized us for allowing him to help because they felt his issues with activity to be a problem with the young men. In the six ish years that he helped us, he kept his visible issues out of sight. In that time he let the young men know that often we make life choices that set us back from being better people. They (the young men) to this day when they talk to me have love and respect for him. A few years ago, just before being released from the calling with the young men, I was confronted again by another individual. They must have had an issue with me being straight up and honest about how life is and our choices affect us. I would doubt highly that they knew very much about me personally, what may have been said to the young men, and in what lesson it may have been used. However I just told them they should pay a visit to the bishop if it was a problem. Knowing the bishop had a really good idea about me and would most certainly handle it well. The bishop and I had had many a good conversation over the past few years before he was the bishop as to the life choices I had made and why. I could have taken some offense to this however; I will not allow others to willfully throw me down the stairs. Being called a “Bad influence” would very well be all it would take for some else to have walked away from anything (including church) and never looking back. This adds another spot for some ideas I will further write about and post at some point, blind parenting and living with blinders on in happy valley.

 I have to think of the reason that we treat others poorly and what comes down to is pride. The pride I speak of is not the same as being say proud of someone, like one of our kids that do great things. But the pride that is the destruction of people, families, governments, and nations. This type of pride drove many a person to kill others, have unspeakable secrets, and works that can only be of the great Dragon himself.

It is because of pride that Cain killed Able, which keeps groups of people in bondage for years to unsavory tyrants, and plagues us today as families tear families apart. We fear man more than God and we have lost sight of the value of the lives of us and others. Rome built itself in greatness centuries ago upon the fear of man but destroyed itself from within with pride. They were too worried about how they looked in front of their neighbors that they lost sight of themselves. John 12:42-43 puts in straight up terms. 42 ¶Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:

 43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. Thus we must change our thinking and hearts to that of what God has in mind for us.

I hope and pray that we can treat others relying on the guidance of the spirit of good. We need to treat others better than we treat ourselves and most certainly expect more of ourselves than we do of the rest of the people around us.