Pride is a terrible sin. The sin of pride and the fight against it. Get rid of this sin

Pride in Christianity is the most serious of the seven deadly sins, which has entailed all the rest

Pride underlies or intersects with vices such as greed, envy, and anger. For example, the desire to get rich (Greed) is caused by the fact that a person wants to become not just rich, but richer than other people, he envies (Envy), because he does not allow the thought that someone would live better than him, he gets irritated and angry (Anger ) when the other person does not recognize his superiority, etc.

What is pride?

What is pride? And pride, and pride, and vanity, you can add here - arrogance, arrogance, arrogance, - all this different types one main phenomenon - "turning to oneself." Pride is extreme self-confidence, with the rejection of everything that is not one’s own, the source of anger, cruelty and anger, refusal of God's help, “demonic stronghold”. In any case, if it is difficult for a person to ask for forgiveness, if he is touchy and suspicious, if he remembers evil and condemns others, then these are undoubtedly signs of pride.

We, people brought up in Soviet times, were taught from childhood that pride is almost the main virtue of a Soviet person. Remember: “Man - it sounds proudly”; "The Soviets have their own pride: they look down on the bourgeoisie." Indeed, pride is at the heart of any rebellion. Pride is Satan's sin, the first passion that appeared in the world even before the creation of humans. And the first revolutionary was Satan.

How does God punish the sin of pride?

Brother : I ask you, reverend father, tell me, how does God punish the sin of pride?

Old man : Listen, brother John! To imagine how vile pride is before God and how He punishes it, it is enough to remember that only because of this sin Satan fell and was cast out of heaven with all his angels (see: Rev. 12: 8-9). And in order to understand how deep the abyss into which one possessed by disgusting pride falls, let us imagine from what glory and light Satan and the angels who were of the same mind fell, into what disgrace they descended and what torment they became guilty of.

And so that you can imagine this even better, know, your brotherhood, that before his descent from the light and glory above, Satan was not some insignificant creation of God, but was one of the most beautiful, most radiant, most decorated and chosen creatures, the most close to God. As the Holy Scripture says, he was a shining day among the heavenly clever ranks. He was the son of the non-evening dawn and the heavenly Cherubim, the most beautiful, radiant and adorning of his Creator, God.

The Scripture writes about this symbolically, through the lips of the prophet Ezekiel, who says to the king of Tire as follows: You were the anointed cherub to overshadow, and I put you on it; you were on the holy mountain of God, walked among the stones of fire(Ezek. 28: 13-14). Likewise, the prophet Isaiah calls Satan the shining star and the son of the dawn (see: Isa. 14:12). Do you see, brother John, what glory the devil possessed, what beauty and splendor, before he fell by a great fall?

So, brother John, from these few testimonies of the Divine Scripture, I think you understood how God punishes pride and what harm it does to the one who has it.

Brother : Really, reverend father, I understood this clearly enough, but I think that God appointed this punishment only for Satan and his angels, because they, like angels, could not sin as easily as we do. But I would ask you to tell me how God punishes pride in the human race?

Old man : Know, your brotherhood, that there is much to be said about this question. But in order to be brief and so that we can imagine how severely God punishes the pride of people, I will first quote the words of the Divine Scriptures, from which we see how God punished for the pride of our forefathers Adam and Eve.

Brother : But what pride could our ancestors Adam and Eve have, reverend father? I know that they were punished by God not for pride, but for disobedience, because they violated the commandment of God and ate of the forbidden tree!

Old man : Know, your brotherhood, brother John, that our forefathers Adam and Eve were also ill with pride and were deceived before disobedience and the transgression of the commandment, because the first sign of pride is disregard for obedience.

This was evident in our first parents, when they despised obedience to God and transgressed His sacred commandment. To test their obedience, God commanded them: You can eat from all the trees of paradise, only from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil do not eat, for on the day you eat of it, you will die a death(cf .: Gen. 2: 16-17). The devil, however, inspired them to taste of this tree, saying that they not only would not die, but would become like gods knowing good and evil (see: Genesis 3: 5). And they, having listened to the serpent, dared to transgress the commandment of God and taste of the forbidden tree, imagining that they themselves would become gods! Therefore, the divine Father Maxim the Confessor says: “As the devil fell because of dreams, he did the same so that Adam and Eve would dream in their minds that they would become exactly like God, and that because of this dream they would fall "

You see, therefore, brother John, that only after our first parents fell and imagined in their minds that they would become like God, only then did they despise obedience to their Creator and transgressed His commandment. So, let's get this very clear.

And about how God punished their pride and the transgression of the commandment, listen, brother John. First of all, they inherited a twofold death: the death of the body and the death of the soul, that is, the falling of their souls into hell. Secondly, they were expelled from the paradise of God. Third, the earth was also cursed because of their transgression. And fourthly, they were punished by God and their Creator so that they, in labor and by the sweat of their brow, would get their food on earth, all the days of their life. For the earth to give birth to thorns for them, and in the end they had to return to the earth from which they were created (see: Genesis 3: 18-19). He then gave Eve a double punishment: so that she would give birth to her children in pain and that her attraction was to her husband, that is, so that she would be subordinate to him at all times.

But the greatest punishment and penance for them was spiritual death, that is, to remain in hell and suffer for 5508 years, that is, until the Coming of the Redeemer and the Resurrection of the New Adam from the dead. Of Christ.

Behold, brother John, how severe was God's punishment to the human race for the sin of pride. Through the mistake of our forefathers Adam and Eve, the entire human race remained under penance until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by His immeasurable humility and His obedience to the death of the Cross healed their pride and disobedience and removed the condemnation of death from the entire human race.

Let this be said only about the punishment for the sin of pride of our ancestors Adam and Eve, and if you want to know about the punishment for this sin and other people, then read the Holy Scriptures. There you will see how God punished the sons of Israel (see: Deut. 1: 43-44), how He punished the pride of those who began to build the Tower of Babel (see: Gen. 11: 4-8), how He punished the pride of Nebuchadnezzar, the king Babylonian (see: Dan. 4: 22; 5: 20-23), and you also learn about the punishment of the king Manasseh (see: 2 Chron. 33: 11). And from many other places Holy Scripture Old and New you will learn how much God hates proud people.

Prayer for pride

"FATHER, forgive my sins and the most main sin mine is my pride. She is the cause of my pain and the pain of other people, and therefore YOURS!

Her birth is hidden in time, but I reap its fruits now, for my pride is the cause of my judgment. As pride gives birth to judgment, so judgment gives rise to hatred. I understood why she was born. The reason is simple - I have not seen YOU in my world.

I did not see YOU in the events of my life, in my loved ones, in the people around me, and I have risen above YOU, allowing myself to judge YOU (in my mother, my father, my wife, my children, relatives and just people around me. I judged YOU in all YOUR manifestations, the destinies of people and the destinies of nations, the laws of state and the laws of morality ... and so on).

Forgive me for dividing YOUR world, and therefore YOU, into good and evil, light and darkness. I realized now that all this is YOU! And life itself is YOUR life. And YOU, as a caring FATHER, raise me - your child with great LOVE, and everything that was in my life, IT WAS FROM YOU! And everything was for me!

THANK YOU, FATHER, for YOUR lessons. For all the events of my life, from small to large, are just the lessons of LOVE - my daily bread, food for my thoughts. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU !!!

I bow down to my enemies, for I have no enemies! How can you be my enemy? My enemy is my friend! This is a manifestation of YOUR LOVE! It was YOU who became for me to make me think, for I am lazy, and the swamp of prosperity and false peace can suck me in, and YOU do not let me perish.

Therefore, I THANK my enemies, for it is YOU and IT WAS FROM YOU! And I THANK my friends and loved ones, for this is YOUR shoulder, my support in my life.

I accept life as it is, for how can I not accept YOU, YOUR lessons. All that is is from YOU and for my good, and therefore I THANK YOU for the very opportunity to live and accept my path, no matter how difficult it may be.

I accept all the trials that were, are and will be in my life, for THIS WAS FROM YOU and for me!

I THANK YOU for everything that was, is and will be in my life - for joy, for pain, for hatred and LOVE, for THIS WAS FROM YOU and for me!

In any trials I promise to be faithful to YOU. This means LOVE!

I choose life - service, FATHER! For I know that there is only one way to serve YOU - WITH YOUR LOVE! And I know that she is born in the experience of life itself, in the pain and trials that you send us. But life without LOVE has no meaning. So they calcined my life to a diamond state, and if there is not enough wood in the smelting furnace, then here is my body for YOU, LORD.

Accept my THANKS for my life! Here is YOUR LOVE in my heart, I have kept it, FATHER! Here is my LOVE in my heart, I have learned to LOVE! And only you, FATHER, know the measure of my LOVE!

I am your daughter, FATHER !!!

And the measure of my LOVE is the measure of my freedom. "
Source - Konstantin Nikulin. World of positive.

How to recognize pride in yourself?

To the question: "How to recognize pride in yourself?" - Jacob, Archbishop of Nizhny Novgorod, writes the following:

“To understand, to feel it, notice how you will feel when those around you do something not your way, against your will.
If it is not the thought of meekly correcting a mistake made by others that is born in you, but displeasure and anger, then know that you are proud and deeply proud.

If even the slightest failures in your affairs sadden you and make you bored and boring, incl. and the thought of the Providence of God participating in our affairs does not amuse you, then know that you are proud and proud deeply.

If you are hot to your own needs and cold to the needs of others, then know that you are proud and proud deeply.

If at the sight of the unhappiness of others, at least your enemies, you are happy, but at the sight of the unexpected happiness of your neighbors you are sad, then know that you are proud and proud deeply.

If humble remarks about your shortcomings are offensive to you, and praise about your unprecedented merits is pleasant and delightful for you, then know that you are proud and proud deeply. "

What else can you add to these signs to recognize your pride? Is it just that if a person is attacked by fear, then this is also a sign of pride.

St. John of the Ladder writes about it this way:

“The proud soul is the slave of fear; trusting in herself, she is afraid of the faint sound of the creatures, and of the shadows themselves. The fearful often lose their minds, and rightly so. For righteously the Lord forsakes the proud, so that he may teach others not to ascend. "

And he also writes: "The image of extreme pride lies in the fact that for the sake of glory a person hypocritically shows virtues that are not in him."
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PS. In today's Russian language, the word pride has several meanings. For example, "I am proud of his deed" means "I am glad or very much approve of his deed." This post speaks exclusively only of "pride" in her spiritual meaning, which existed mainly until 1917. In Dahl's dictionary, there is such a definition: “Proud - Arrogant, arrogant, arrogant; pouty, arrogant; who puts himself above others. " This "pride" is the subject of this post.

Get rid of pride, because pride brings with it constant grievances, conflicts with loved ones; it does not allow solving problems productively and is a sign of egocentrism, which does not allow a person to go forward on the path of development of his personality.

How to get rid of pride? Start by revising your principles and beliefs, your “must” and “must” and try to replace them with “I want” and “I wish”. To discover these painful beliefs that give rise to pride, in the most common situations in life, look for the thought that makes you feel hurt or irritated.

If you allow yourself to let go of the control that prevents you from realizing this thought for a while, if you want to be frank with yourself, you can definitely find the core of your troubles. Do not condemn in thoughts and words people who, in your opinion, committed immoral acts: after all, your point of view is not the only one and not the most correct, it is simply different. Do not consider people something owed or owed to you personally or to the world in general - it is not so. Try to do good in secret, hidden from people. After all, good for the sake of someone knowing about it is not selfless: it is also the result of pride.

And I wish you success in this difficult path - the way of ridding yourself of pride!

Fall of Lucifer

Many Christian theologians spoke of pride as a mortal sin. However, the most complete definition of it was given by reverend john Ladder:

Pride is a renunciation of God, a demonic invention, the humiliation of people, the mother of alienation, the fiend of praise, a sign of infertility, the predecessor of insanity, the cause of an epileptic illness, the source of irritability, the door of hypocrisy, the support of demons, resistance to God, the root of blasphemy, ignorance of compassion, cruel torturer, guardian sins, inhuman judge. Where the fall took place, there was already pride: Pride is an apple that has rotted inside, but outside it shines with beauty: there is an extreme poverty of the soul.

The Science of Pride

Psychologically speaking, pride is overwhelming pride, arrogance, arrogance, selfishness, and arrogance. At its highest manifestation, pride is considered a spiritual deviation, which is accompanied by the following symptoms:

- resentment, intolerance to criticism, unwillingness to correct their shortcomings;

- constantly blaming others for their life problems;

- uncontrolled irritability and disrespect for other people;

- a person is regularly visited by thoughts about his own greatness and uniqueness, he exalts himself over others and demands that they admire him;

- inability to ask for forgiveness;

- the desire to constantly argue, to prove their case.

Each of us at least once in our life experienced one of the above feelings. This is due to the fact that all people have pride, but for many it manifests itself within reasonable limits.

For example, it is normal for psychologists to be proud of winning a sports championship or getting the highest score at an Olympiad (this is the difference between pride and pride). Sometimes pride and self-esteem are essential ingredients for a happy and successful life.

Dr. Medina is convinced that the manifestation of pride to one degree or another "depends on our ability to learn and accept everything new." The CaMKII gene is responsible for the appearance of this feeling. It is he who excites our ambition, arrogance and arrogance.

Fragment "Pride" from the work of Hieronymus Bosch "The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things"

Methods for dealing with pride

In Christian teachings, pride is seen as the opposite of one of the virtues - humility. So it is necessary to accept, “to realize the greatness and infinite potential of every human soul”, “to accept your insignificance before God,” to thank him for all the good and bad things that happen in life.

Psychologists advise:

- start to be interested in other people, pay attention to their achievements;

- learn to respect others and listen to their opinions;

- do not take all the merits and achievements;

- try to help people disinterestedly, treat them with kindness and love;

- learn to adequately accept constructive criticism;

- share your positive experience otherwise it will only increase the growth of pride;

- and most importantly: you need to be able to admit your mistakes, find the courage to forgive insults.

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A person is an emotional person who has developed his own life rules. He has a huge energy reserve, through his feelings he expresses his own attitude towards others and the world, but what energy this person's thoughts are endowed with, and what kind of emotions he displays when communicating with other people, depends solely on him and his desires. What is pride, and why it is a sin for people - let's try to find out further.

Pride - what is it?

Pride - a sense of complete superiority your personality over others. It is an inadequate assessment of personal importance. The manifestation of pride very often leads to stupid mistakes, because of which others suffer. This sin is manifested in arrogance, not showing respect for other people, their lives and experiences. People with a heightened sense of pride have a heightened desire to show off their accomplishments. They consider their success only their own merit, not taking into account the help of others and higher powers in ordinary life situations, do not recognize the help and support of others.

In Latin, "pride" is translated as "superbia". It is a sin, because every quality of a person is inherent in the Creator. And to consider yourself the source of all your achievements in life and that everything around is the result of personal labor is fundamentally wrong. Criticism of the actions and speech of other people, accusations of failure, rude ridicule - it amuses people with pride very much, brings them unspeakable pleasure.

Very often a person does not even realize that he obeys pride and thinks this is some other quality of his character ... But then it all gets worse- as a result, a person is completely immersed in this sin. How can you distinguish it in yourself and in other people in order to stop in time and be protected from sin? To do this, you need to familiarize yourself and learn to distinguish between the following signs of sin:

It is these signs that are often confused with pride itself., sometimes they accept these signs as virtues, but only when they occupy the first place in a person's character and begin to lead him. After that, a person is unable to control himself, and this inevitably leads to harm to himself and the people around him.

There are different types of this sin. It can be an age-related form of pride. When adults neglect the little ones, because they are still very stupid and naive due to their age. Or, conversely, young people believe that older people do not understand anything about current trends and their outlook on life is outdated.

There is a pride of knowledge... When a person considers himself to be the smartest, and everyone around him is a fool.

The pride of beauty. Basically, this sin is on women who consider themselves the most beautiful, and other women unworthy of compliments and love.

National pride... People believe that their nation is superior to others, and some nations do not even have a right to exist. An example of this sin can be considered the views of the Germans on the Jewish nation during the Second World War? Why is this not an indicator of the manifestation of pride in full measure and not the result of the complete mastery of sin by some Germans?

There are a sufficient number of types of pride, each type is manifested in a particular area of human life and activities.

The results of this sin

Pride mainly acts as a source of bad thoughts and emotions that negatively affect the state and behavior of people, in other words, prevent them from living a “right” life, since an overestimated sense of the importance of one's “I” becomes the starting point of aggression towards people around. Other ideas about the world give rise to inside a flash of the following emotions: anger, resentment, hatred, contempt, envy and pity. First of all, they lead to the absolute destruction of a person's mental health, respectively, and his consciousness.

Pride and psychology

This sin is often a sign of wrong upbringing. V early age parents often tell their child that he is better than others. However, the baby should receive praise and support, but only for a specific, real reason. False praise will build high self-esteem, which invariably leads to pride. Such children, having matured, will not be able to realistically assess their own shortcomings. An example of this is that they do not know from childhood about criticism against them, and they will not be able to perceive it as adults.

As a rule, such a sin brings discord in communication.- after all, maintaining a friendly relationship with a proud person is a dubious pleasure. No one wants to feel humiliated from the very beginning, listen to long monologues about someone's perfection and righteousness, the absence of steps to a compromise will not lead to anything good. A proud person never recognizes the talents and abilities of another.

Pride in Orthodoxy

This is the main sin in Orthodoxy, since it is he who is the source of other human vices: greed, anger. The salvation of the human soul is based on the concept- The Lord is above all. Then you need to love your neighbor, sacrificing your interests and desires. But pride does not accept a duty to another person, it is not characteristic of a feeling of pity. A virtue that eradicates pride, humility.

The current society imposes the opinion that a woman can do without a male representative. Pride in women does not recognize a family in which a man is in charge and his opinion is the main one. Women in such a relationship do not recognize the righteousness of their husbands, constantly show their independence as proof, and try to subjugate the man to themselves. It is important for such women to be a leader and a winner, not deviating from their principles. It is not possible for such a woman to make sacrifices for the sake of her own family. Draws similar pictures to us modern society .

Total control, the habit of "dripping on the brain" and female irritability - poison family life... Each quarrel ends only after the man admits his own wrong and the woman's ego wins. Forcing a man to exalt a woman in every little detail diminishes his self-esteem, so love dies. And the man wants to break off any relationship.

Get rid of this sin

When a person understands what kind of sin he carries in himself, and there is a desire to get rid of it, then the question immediately arises: how to get rid of it? This is not to say that it is very easy to do this. After all, in order to get rid of a bad quality of character, it is necessary to go a long and difficult path, to realize the sources of sin, and the most important thing is to make every effort to get rid of, since the struggle will go on with oneself.

Freedom from this sin the path to knowing oneself and God, each subsequent step must be deliberate and confident. To do this, you must remember the following rules:

to love the surrounding world as it is;
learn to perceive any situation in life without offense and indignation, every time to show gratitude to God for what was sent to them, because all circumstances are something new and useful;
be able to see positive sides in any position, although not always noticeable at first glance, since often awareness comes after some time.

Fighting pride

There are situations like this when a person can no longer do anything with himself in order to overcome pride. In such a situation, one should ask for help from the "senior comrades", listen to their wise instructions and be able not to refuse them. This will help to embark on the true path, the path of resistance, and will also provide an opportunity to step further on the path of self-knowledge.

Most effective method in the fight against sin - serving relatives, society, the world and God. By giving himself to others, a person changes, because environment becomes different - purer, brighter and more righteous. No wonder the sages say: "Change yourself - everything around will change."

Pride in Christianity is the most serious of the seven deadly sins, which has entailed all the rest

What is pride?

What is pride? And pride, and pride, and vanity, here you can add - arrogance, arrogance, arrogance - all these are different types of one basic phenomenon - "turning to oneself." Pride is extreme self-confidence, with the rejection of everything that is not one’s own, the source of anger, cruelty and anger, refusal of God's help, “demonic stronghold”. In any case, if it is difficult for a person to ask for forgiveness, if he is touchy and suspicious, if he remembers evil and condemns others, then these are undoubtedly signs of pride.

How does God punish the sin of pride?

Brother : I ask you, reverend father, tell me, how does God punish the sin of pride?

So, brother John, from these few testimonies of the Divine Scripture, I think you understood how God punishes pride and what harm it does to the one who has it.

Brother : Indeed, Reverend Father, I understood this quite clearly, but I think that God appointed this punishment only for Satan and his angels, because they, like angels, could not sin as easily as we do. But I would ask you to tell me how God punishes pride in the human race?

Let this be said only about the punishment for the sin of pride of our ancestors Adam and Eve, and if you want to know about the punishment for this sin and other people, then read the Holy Scriptures. There you will see how God punished the sons of Israel (see: Deut. 1: 43-44), how He punished the pride of those who began to build the Tower of Babel (see: Gen. 11: 4-8), how He punished the pride of Nebuchadnezzar, the king Babylonian (see: Dan. 4: 22; 5: 20-23), and you also learn about the punishment of the king Manasseh (see: 2 Chron. 33: 11). And from many other Scriptures, Old and New, you will learn how much God hates proud people.

Prayer for pride

“FATHER, forgive my sins and my main sin is my pride. She is the cause of my pain and the pain of other people, and therefore YOURS!

THANK YOU, FATHER, for YOUR lessons. For all the events of my life, from small to large, are just the lessons of LOVE - my daily bread, food for my thoughts. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU !!!

Therefore, I THANK my enemies, for it is YOU and IT WAS FROM YOU! And I THANK my friends and loved ones, for this is YOUR shoulder, my support in my life.

I accept all the trials that were, are and will be in my life, for THIS WAS FROM YOU and for me!

I THANK YOU for everything that was, is and will be in my life - for joy, for pain, for hatred and LOVE, for THIS WAS FROM YOU and for me!

In any trials I promise to be faithful to YOU. This means LOVE!

Accept my THANKS for my life! Here is YOUR LOVE in my heart, I have kept it, FATHER! Here is my LOVE in my heart, I have learned to LOVE! And only you, FATHER, know the measure of my LOVE!

I am your daughter, FATHER !!!

And the measure of my LOVE is the measure of my freedom. "
Source - Konstantin Nikulin. World of positive.

How to recognize pride in yourself?

To the question: "How to recognize pride in yourself?" - Jacob, Archbishop of Nizhny Novgorod, writes the following:

If you are hot to your own needs and cold to the needs of others, then know that you are proud and proud deeply.

If humble remarks about your shortcomings are offensive to you, and praise about your unprecedented merits is pleasant and delightful for you, then know that you are proud and proud deeply. "

What else can you add to these signs to recognize your pride? Is it just that if a person is attacked by fear, then this is also a sign of pride.

St. John of the Ladder writes about it this way:

And he also writes: "The image of extreme pride lies in the fact that for the sake of glory a person hypocritically shows virtues that are not in him."
www.logoslovo.ru

PS. In today's Russian language, the word pride has several meanings. For example, "I am proud of his deed" means "I am glad or very much approve of his deed." This post speaks exclusively only of “pride” in its spiritual meaning, which existed mainly until 1917. In Dahl's dictionary, there is such a definition: “Proud - Arrogant, arrogant, arrogant; pouty, arrogant; who puts himself above others. " This "pride" is the subject of this post.

And I wish you success in this difficult path - the way of ridding yourself of pride!

Pride is a destructive state for the soul, the hardest sinful passion. Pride is exhausting a person both spiritually and psychologically. A proud person is his own biggest challenge in life. Often, those suffering from the ailments of drunkenness, drug addiction and other addictions are enslaved by this sinful passion, which prevents them from seeing their weaknesses and sins, and turning to the Lord with repentance.

In creation Monk Ephraim Sirina is chapter 3 called "In the overthrow of pride." It beautifully describes the nature of pride and the opposite virtue of humility:
Without humility of mind, any heroic deed, all abstinence, all submission, all non-covetousness, all poly-scholarship are in vain. For as the beginning and end of goodness is humility, so the beginning and end of hudago is arrogance. And this unclean spirit is resourceful and diverse; why he uses every effort to prevail over all, and puts a net on everyone, no matter who goes the way. The wise man captures with wisdom, strong fortress, rich in wealth, good-looking beauty, eloquent with eloquence, having good voice pleasant voice, artist art, resourceful resourcefulness. And in a similar way, it does not cease to tempt those who lead the spiritual life, and puts a snare for the one who has renounced the world in renunciation, abstinent in abstinence, mute in silence, non-acquisitive in non-acquisitiveness, multi-learned in learning, reverent in reverence, well-versed in knowledge (however, true knowledge is associated with humility). So, high-mindedness tries to sow its tares in everyone. Why, knowing the cruelty of this passion (for as soon as it takes root where, it makes both a person and all his labor worthless for anything), the Lord gave us the means of humility to victory over it, saying:
“Whenever you do all that is commanded to you, say: as Rabbi are not the keys to the keys” (Luke 17, 10).
Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, in his creations, has this reasoning about pride:
An abominable sin is pride, but few can learn from anyone, as deep in the heart it is hidden. The beginning of pride is ignorance of oneself. This ignorance blinds a person, and so a person is proud. Oh, if a man would know himself, would know his poverty, misery and regret, he would never be proud! But all the more, there is a most accursed person because he does not see and does not know his poverty and curse. Pride from deeds, like a tree from fruits, is cognized (Creations like the Saints of our father Tikhon Zadonsky, Flesh and Spirit, Book 1-2, p. 246).
Signs of pride:
1. Seek glory, honor and praise in every way.
2. Business is beyond one's strength to start.
3. Interfere with any business without permission.
4. To elevate oneself without shame.
5. Despise others.
6. Having lost your honor, be indignant, grumble and complain.
7. To be disobedient to the highest.
8. Kind to herself, and not to attribute to God.
9. Show yourself to be careful in everything. (To vain is to try (Dahl).
10. Reconsider other cases.
11. To raise their errors, to reduce their praise.
12. In word and deed, there is no way to show arrogance.
13. Corrections and admonitions not to love, not to take advice.
14. Do not tolerate being humiliated, and so on.
The Holy Righteous Father John of Kronstadt writes in his diary "My Life in Christ" as follows:
He who is infected with pride is inclined to show contempt for everything, even for holy and divine objects: pride mentally destroys or defiles every good thought, word, deed, every creation of God. It is the deadly breath of Satan (Paris, 1984, p. 10).
Watch closely for manifestations of pride: it manifests itself imperceptibly, especially in upset and irritability towards others for the most unimportant reasons (Moscow, 1894, volume 1, p. 25).
Pride in faith manifests itself by the fact that the proud dares to set himself up as a judge of faith and the Church and says: I do not believe this and do not recognize this; I find it superfluous, unnecessary, but this is strange or ridiculous.

Some psychological characteristics of a proud person:

Arrogance
Doesn't tolerate criticism
Resentment
Stubbornness
Envy
Doesn't see his mistakes
Selfishness or pride
Overconfidence
Great conceit
Doesn't like advice
Nothing can be surprised
Inability to communicate
Can't open
Can't talk about her weaknesses
Can't laugh at herself
Doesn't want help
Lack of gratitude
Doesn't remember her benefactors
Can't forgive
Can't apologize or repent
Anger towards your victim
Helps those in need - to exalt themselves

I will point out another very important spiritual observation: “The enemy fell with pride. Pride is the beginning of sin; it contains all kinds of evil: vanity, popularity, lust for power, coldness, cruelty, indifference to the sufferings of one's neighbor; dreaminess of the mind, heightened action of the imagination, demonic expression of the eyes, demonic character of the whole appearance; gloom, longing, despair, hatred; envy, humiliation, many have a breakdown in carnal lust; agonizing inner anxiety, disobedience, fear of death, or vice versa - the search to end life and, finally, which is not uncommon, complete madness. These are the signs of demonic spirituality. But, until they appear brightly, for many they remain unnoticed "(Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov). From the book" Elder Silouan the Athonite ").

Fight with pride

As a cure for pride, often read the following and similar passages of Scripture directed against it.
Whenever you create all that is commanded to you, say: as servants are inseparable (Esma) (Luke 17, 10).
The hedgehog is high in men, an abomination is before the Lord (Luke 16:15).
Learn from Me, as I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, says the Lord (Matthew 11:29).
In our humility, the Lord will remember us: and he delivered us to eat from our enemies (Ps. 135, 23).
Humble yourself and save me (Psalm 114: 5).
Everyone who is high-hearted is unclean before the Lord (Proverbs 16: 5).

Monk Ephraim the Syrian

“You have nothing good that you would not receive from God. Why do you magnify yourself as a stranger as your own? Why do you boast of the given grace of God as your own acquisition? The prayer of the humble bows down to God, but the prayer of the proud insults Him. "

Reverend Nilus of Sinai

“Pride is the extreme squalor of the soul, which dreams of itself, that it is rich, and, being in darkness, thinks that it is in the light.
A proud one is like an apple, rotten inside, but outwardly shining with beauty. "

Venerable John Climacus

Dmitry Alexandrovich, tell me why one person is prone to neuroses, while the other is not?
Of course, I will not answer this question with mathematical precision. One thing I can say with certainty. Neurotic disorders are characteristic of the soul upset by sins. It is they who disorganize the will, bring emotions and imagination out of the control of consciousness. Simply put, a person's mind, his will and feelings become like a swan, a crayfish and a pike from the famous fable: each pulls in his direction, there is no harmony, while everything should be in subordination. Will is subject to reason, and feelings are subject to will.

Life is given to us by the Lord
Abortion is the killing of a child in the womb. Tragically, millions of unborn babies around the world are killed in the womb. This fact does not fit into my head. Children are dying by the mothers themselves! At their request or with their consent. And the numbers of abortions, unfortunately, are not only not decreasing, but even growing. Today there are girls 13-14 years old who have already committed this terrible sin. On October 13, 2016, Western media reported on a sensational discovery by European scientists: a person's heart “beats” earlier than on the 16th day after conception, the website “Russian Mothers” writes. Earlier in science, it was believed that a child's heart begins to beat at least a week later. At three months, doctors stop calling the baby a fetus. This is already a formed fruit, which only has to grow and ripen. I will not forget how one old priest tried to persuade a young woman not to have an abortion. Tears ran down my father's cheeks. He told her about the sin of infanticide, and many, many other things. When the elder ran out of "arguments", he exclaimed: "Maybe there is a saint in your womb, or maybe this is your breadwinner in old age. Come to your senses! Life is given to us by the Lord! "...

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