April 16, 2024: I Will Not Let My Pride Get In The Way

Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall. -Proverbs 16:18 NKJV

A few years ago, the boys team that I was coaching made the playoffs for the first time in a long while. We came in the fourth seed and had to play the one seed in the first round. The team that we played went undefeated with a record of 12-0 and we had a record of 10-4. You flip for everything and the other team got to choose what ball we played with. They also had to provide the balls. Before the game, there is usually a time where the coaches introduce themselves and chat a little bit. The opposing coaches kept ignoring our efforts simply say hello and good luck. It came time warm up and we didn’t have the balls. We found one of their managers to ask if we could have the ball.  The kid went in the locker room and asks where they were. They told us the were by the door to the gym. We looked and didn’t see a duffle bag or a ball bag. Instead, our warm up balls were placed in a trash can. Our athletes took that personally and didn’t like the conceited attitude that this team displayed. What the other team thought was a sure victory because of the seeding turned out to be a double digit victory for us. Their pride got in the way because they didn’t know our story. Yes, we were the lower seed but we had 2 two way ties. First and second place had 11-3 records. Third and forth place teams had 10-4 records. The fish place team was 9-5 and would have been in the playoffs in any other district in our state.

We have to be careful with how we handle our pride. Solomon’s reminder is when pride comes first, nothing good comes after that. The Message translation says, “First pride, then the crash- the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.” Their view of who they were created an opportunity for them to misjudge who were are. Our pride will put us in positions where we aren’t fully listening to what God has to say. The arrogance to think that we are better and have all of the answers will lead to our downfall every time. We have to humble ourselves in each situation of our lives because God will do the exalting.