Pride is so very deadly a sin in part because it seems that no matter what position or situation in which we find ourselves, we are equally susceptible to its insidious influence. Pride leads the rich to feel that they especially deserve their wealth and that they ought not to part with it or be forced or cajoled into sharing it out even to the most desperately needy. But pride works just as well on the very poorest who would rather suffer as martyrs than to ever accept a handout or a leg up. Pride leads the ignorant to cling to their ignorance, and the educated to look down on those who appear less intelligent. In every one of its forms, pride leads us to believe that we are set apart, above and away from the rest. But when we believe and act on such beliefs, all that we do is cut ourselves off from those around us and from our Heavenly Father. Whether we are in fact special or not does not matter in the end if we sacrifice our relationships with everyone who ought to matter just to satisfy our pride. Every time that we ignore or disdain a prompting from the Spirit to love and to serve and to lift up another in need because we believe that acting in such a way is beneath us, we cause our lives and our souls to shrink rather than grow, collapse rather than expand, wither rather than blossom. If we will submit ourselves to our Heavenly Father's will in all humility, He can make so much more of us than our pride would have ever conceived in its wildest imaginations.
