The longer I have been a Christian, the more I think that pride lays at the root of most of my sin. Bridges highlights four ways Christians can be proud:
1. Pride of moral self-righteousness
Looking at the list and his examples, I think pride is something many ministry wives will battle with. The very fact that we have a husband who is in full time ministry can tempt us to be proud. We may think that because of the sacrifices we've made to be in 'ministry' that we are somehow morally superior to those who have made different choices.
There can also be pride that your husband has studied the Bible in a formal context (and you have too, in many cases). We can end up in situations where we are so proud of our correct doctrine that we can be ungodly in the way we treat others or see ourselves as superior to the people we're meant to be serving. We might ignore wise counsel from those who are older than us, because we've done the real study of the Bible. Or we might be proud of our husbands' achievements in a particular area of church life - maybe he's been asked to be a speaker at an event or something he is organising is getting positive attention. Maybe it's something you've done that is the source of pride.
The scary thing is, when it's pride that stems from 'ministry', it's all too easy to justify it.
This is probably a good chapter for many of us to spend some time reflecting on, asking God to show us where we have tendencies to pride. And also to take to heart the closing words of the chapter, taken from Isaiah 66:2: "This is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in Spirit and trembles at my word".
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