Contact : Newsletter of Pilots for Christ International

July, 2001

Founder’s Forum

It doesn't take much reflection to discover how pride has caused mankind to sin. The devil cleverly convinces most of us that the other person has the problem with pride, -- "Not me, I'm a great guy."

When we look at the matter in any depth we see that before the creation of the world Lucifer sinned because he was too proud to bow down and worship our Lord. Our first parents sinned through pride when the devil convinced Eve that if she ate of the forbidden fruit she would know what God knows. Adam tried to dodge his responsibility for eating the fruit by blaming both God and Eve. "It was that woman you gave me." We continue in that same vein today when we look for an excuse to break any of the commandments. We either blame the commandments or change the wording to suit our particular need. An excellent example of this is mates divorcing when they can't get along together, ignoring Jesus' admonition that "What God has joined together let no man put asunder." We rationalize the murder of innocent babies through legalized abortion, calling them fetuses instead of what they are, human beings. We say that it is a woman's right to kill her baby. That is being "pro-choice". Never mind that the baby has no choice in the matter. The previously mentioned sins are much more obvious than the more subtle sins of pride we commit in our daily lives. If we have a leadership position in our employment, our church, or in Pilots for Christ, do we sincerely respect and seek out the opinions of others? Or do we think we have all or most of the answers? You might take a self-check and ask yourself how many people have told you that you're stubborn and want things your way. For every person who has told that to your face, there are probably dozens more who think it, but don't verbalize it.

Many churches are torn apart by jealousies created by pride. A possible answer to this problem is to pray for humility. Be careful what you ask for, though, because shortly after your request, God may send someone to humble you and you may not like it. It may come as a form of criticism. I feel wounded and hurt when this happens to me and I usually feel the criticism is not justified. But, it matters little whether the criticism is justified or not if we are truly sincere in seeking humility. As a matter of fact, I expect that after writing this article I will no doubt be humbled, to my chagrin, for having the audacity to write on this subject.

God love you, your brother in Christ,

Bill Starrs, PCI Founder

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