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Throughout Scripture we are reminded many times that one of the things God hates most is pride. Pride is a serious sin; it seems to be woven into our very beings from birth, and the longer we live the longer we struggle with pride.

It is often because of pride that relationships and marriages suffer and are destroyed. It is because of pride that many people sink deeply into debt to keep up appearances. And pride keeps us from giving proper worship to the Lord, as we try to show off our great personal accomplishments, forgetting that all we have comes from God's sustaining grace.

A sad truth from Psalm 10:4... "In his pride the wicked does not seek Him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God."

Many years ago, my wife and I were friends with a married couple from the big city. Let's call them Dan and Debbie. I was self employed at the time, as was Dan. That was about all we had in common. Lisa and I had only been married a couple of years and had our first child, still in diapers. I was thrilled one Christmas when I was able to buy Lisa a new car - a modest Ford Festiva, yet it was brand new, and she desperately needed a reliable car. We lived in a very small, humble home, yet it was our home and we were blessed not to have to rent an apartment somewhere.

Now our friends Dan and Debbie used to come for visits, and would let no opportunity slip by to take prideful swipes at our lifestyle. You see, they would drive nothing less than a brand new shiny black Cadillac - which had to be replaced with another brand new one each year. They would never even consider something so ridiculous as a Ford Festiva. Perish the thought! Dan would take every opportunity to flash a wad of $100 bills in my face, pulling them out for no apparent reason. Even though they never owned a home of their own, they looked down upon us for our little house. And while we shopped for bargains on clothing and necessities for our new baby, for their children nothing but the best was acceptable. No Walmart or Sam's Club for them - no, for them it had to be Saks Fifth Avenue and all brand name, high end stuff.

Once they came for dinner and brought with them a bottle of wine which must have cost over $100. We were unimpressed. You see, in the first place, we didn't drink wine and in fact, we were perfectly content with Hawaiian Punch or Orange soda. If we had $100 to spend, it certainly would never have gone for wine. To us that was absurd, but then again, we were not out to impress anyone.

While

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