Penmanship Pie Pride

Proverbs 11:2 
When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.

The Lord blessed us with another day and we've rejoiced and filled it with all sorts of good works unto Him thus far, having more to go!  I did, however, have an issue today that I quickly overcame and I think it might be encouraging to you as well as a warning and something to watch out for in yourself. 

We had a package and a letter that needed to be mailed and while I was at the post office counter I had to write an address and my writing was awful. I've had some increasing nerve issues lately that affect my thinking and dexterity, including my hands at times and I don't write very often so the 2 together made for a scribbled address label.  After I slid the label to the worker to put it on the box and process it all, I was ashamed of myself and embarrassed of what the recipient would think of it when they received it.  My memory flashed to my grandma who had shaky hand writing and I was now (at times) in her footsteps.  That lasted all of maybe a minute and I became ashamed of myself and in my mind I was thinking...."The job got done and the writing can be read so what's the big deal?"  The answer popped in my head...PRIDE.  

Proverbs 16:18-19 
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.

How foolish....pride over sich a thing! Even such a small thing can grow bigger or merge into other areas of our lives.  I confessed to brother Tupos that years ago when I used to make hand written lists of chores I wanted to get done or lists of groceries (before we used cell phones) and even if nobody was looking at it, I would erase and fix my words to make sure they looked nice, sometimes tossing out whole lists and doing them over again.  

I thought I was over all that foolishness.

Galatians 6:3 
For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

....pride and foolishness. 

Mark 7:22 
Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:

I want no part of any....and pray the Lord continue to help me dig out anything left inside. 

Mark 7:23 
All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

I internally rebuked myself for worrying about what others think or about what I can't do anymore and I thought about any other area that there might be some pride lurking.  ​

Psalm 139:23-24 
Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

I do know of a few areas that I work on and they're very minor compared to how huge they were years ago and they don't flare up very often at all, but I know about them and am aware, so it's much easier to combat them before they even arise. It's the ones I don't know about or forgot, or didn't realize; the ones that take you by surprise that I want in the light.  Like the one today. 

It's interesting that this came up as I've been thinking about fingernail pride.  I see women with extra long fake fingernails (like almost 2" long, I have no clue how they do anything) and I think about how man perverts everything God has created including fingernails!  Then I flashed back in my mind to something when I was outside of the Lord, in my lost hopeless state....
I had fingernail pride AND toenail pride.  (I was nothing but a horrible boatload of pride from head to toenails back then.)  I recall when I had an issue with my toe and they had to remove my toenail and I was so horrified that I would have a bad looking toe and even wondered how I could glue a nail to it. It's shameful to even talk about but maybe some of you might be helped by this.  

Psalm 36:11-12 
Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me. There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.

Pride is like cancer, it's inside, hides in the dark, growing until the light of truth shines on it.  When exposed, the flesh pains from it (sometimes lashing out because of it or goes into denial) but the spirit rejoices that we've exposed and overcome (or are working on it) and over time, it becomes smaller and smaller until it's a little spore that has very little to feed it.  

Let's feed the spirit man with some scriptures on pride:

Proverbs 27:2 
Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.

Proverbs 26:12 
Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.

Proverbs 8:13 
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

Psalm 138:6 
Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

Proverbs 16:5 
Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord : though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.

Ecclesiastes 7:8 
Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Keep in mind that pride goes both ways....meaning a person can have pride  in how good they write OR in my case, pride because it looks so bad and I don't want anyone to see it and think less of me.  Our flesh wants to maintain a positive image but our Spirit man wants us to just be who we are in Christ and to remember this....

1 Corinthians 1:27-31 
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;  And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.  But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

I could care less what anyone thinks of us when we go out and preach the gospel, looking like fools to the world but yet I was concerned about what some ink on a piece of paper looked like.  How awful is that.

1 Corinthians 4:10 
We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised.

I'll be a fool for the Lord and by His help He will continue to purge the evil from among 'me'.  (I asked brother Tupos to draw that picture at the top of the post:-)

You might be wondering about the title...Penmanship Pie Pride.
Obviously penmanship is writing...the word 'pie' is pronounced 'pee-eh' in Spanish meaning 'foot':-)   

I hope to be doing more on pride in women to keep reminding us not to have any.  Let us be humble in the sight of the Lord, doing the works He has for us.  Speaking of which, there's a new Titus 2 / Proverbs 31 post HERE if you're interested.

Love in Christ,
​Sister Aman