Overcoming Pride
one - Happiness and Sin
a. If God wants us to be happy, why do we always resist Him? Why do we do actions that we know won’t make us happy?
b. A sin is defined by St. Augustine as A thought, word, or deed, contrary to the Eternal Law – i.e., our design
i. In other words, God made us for Happiness with Him, that’s our design, but instead we choose to go against our design, and so against our own happiness.
c. And every sin involves two parts
i. First, it involves an attraction to some good. We only sin because we want something which appears, at least in some way, to be a good.
ii. Second, our pursuit of that good is in some way irrational and contrary to God’s will for us.
1. Because even if it’s a good, it’s not the good we were made for, and it’s not a good that can ultimately make us happy
a. So it’s unreasonable to pursue it.
two
Every sin is therefore a sin of Pride
a. Because pride = pursuing a good we have no business pursuing
i. Pride is a turning towards a good that distracts us from the ultimate good, God, the only good who can give us happiness.
ii. Pride is saying, “I reject the Good that You Are. I want this good instead. I don’t want to be happy like this. I want to be happy like that.”
1. And it doesn’t work. It’s not how we were made. So pride always ends in frustration and dissatisfaction.
three
So why do we pursue goods we have no business pursuing?
a. Well, because they’re right in front of us, and God isn’t.
i. God, as you might have noticed, hides himself. He doesn’t feel like he’s there, most of the time.
ii. And that gives us the opportunity to choose a lesser, immediately experienced good over God, the ultimate, but not immediately experienced good.
1. (e.g., Adam and Eve only sinned when God wasn’t “walking in the Garden,” and the Israelites made a golden calf when Moses and God had been off talking for a long time).
b. But then why does God hide himself?
i. Because if He didn’t we wouldn’t be free not to choose Him. If God appeared to us as He is, we’d be so hypnotized by his awesome glory that nothing else could compete for our attention
1. (e.g., story of the man and the woman meeting on the train).
2. God allows us to choose whether or not to love Him, before we lose ourself in the enjoyment of his unfathomable goodness.
four - Magnanimity and Humility
a. How do we fight pride, then? Primarily through two virtues:
i. The one is Magnanimity
1. This is the virtue that keeps us focused on the greatness, the goodness and the happiness, that we’re actually called to.
2. The good we’re called to pursue is holiness, sanctity, perfection, union with God.
a. That’s got to be the ultimate focus of everything we do
ii. The other is Humility
1. This is the virtue that prevents us from getting distracted by false goods.
2. It’s the virtue that says – “If this word or thought or act can’t be directed to God, then I have no business pursuing it. And I’m not going to.”
So the one virtue keeps your eyes on the prize, and the other resists any prideful distractions
five
And actually, Magnanimity (pursuing greatness) is deeply tied to Humility. Why?
a. Because greatness usually lies in doing quiet, unostentatious things
i. In fidelity to prayer
ii. In serving your family
iii. And in fulfilling your daily duties
b. So yes, you’re called to be the best you can be – and your also called to be humble.
i. Because both usually involve a steady, simple – and happy – path to everlasting glory with God.