Author C.S. Lewis describes pride in his book Mere Christianity as 'the great sin', he says it's the sin that "leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind." I see pride as the silent sin. It's the one people don't admit to for one of two reasons: either it's the one thing they put up the greatest defense about, or they're too full of pride and fail to even recognize it as a problem in their own lives.

Pride is a pedestal that we unknowingly but willingly mount. The more we are filled with pride, the taller the pedestal grows, and because we were so eager to mount it, we grow with it, becoming further separated from others and reality. God didn't make us to grow with these pedestals, He made us to remain on the ground, to be wary of those on the pedestals, and to help them down when needed. Lewis also states, "If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed." Pride is the sin that will affect every person within their lifetime, whether it's in a small dose or a life-altering one. To think you are above pride is incredibly prideful in and of itself.

I say all this because my pride problem is something God has made very evident to me recently. I see people around me who don't know God very well or at all, and I think myself a better person because of my standing with Him. I think "look at all I have in Christ and look at all they're throwing away by not choosing Him, how could God see us all as His precious children?" But this is where God stepped in, He has given me some big blows.

I've not only been knocked off my pedestal, I'm laying flat on my back with the wind knocked out of me. God has reminded me that He has different, specific, beautiful plans for each of His children. Me being as close to God as I am now doesn't mean God has readied everybody else the same. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time." The Lord is working in all of us, He knows exactly what He's doing in each of our individual lives. Who are we to question that?

Rather than gain an inflated ego, practice humility. Be conscious of what you say and think and remember that we are all God's children. He is working in each and every one of us and has made us for so much more than thinking we're better than someone who doesn't know Him like we do. Because at the end of the day, we don't have any less sin than those who've yet to find Christ.

I thank God for reality checks and for blows to the ego. Pride separates us from other people, but what's worse is it separates us from Him. Never think you are above other people or above God and His plan. As I've learned, He will remind you every time that you are not. But guess what? He still loves us all the same. That's the beauty of our God. There is no sin so great that can separate us from His love. Not even the great sin.