The truth is, we are all prideful souls in one way or another. In different personalities, pride shows itself in different ways, but it is in us all. People are sometimes fooled because their pride may not be the “in your face,” arrogant type, but if they do not have a deep humility before God and before people, pride is hiding somewhere in the folds of the personality: spiri- tual victory cannot be gained until the pride is revealed and put to death. Our biggest problem, however, is not found in admitting we have pride. Our biggest problem lies in taking it seriously. Far too many Christians still take pride too lightly. In fact, it is hot uncommon to hear those in leadership roles joke about their pride. “I know, | know, I'm just a prideful dog,” quips a speaker as he tells a story about an interaction between his wife and himself. The audience laughs, just as he intended for them to do, But would we jake about any other sin in the same way? Imagine a speaker who says, “I know, | know, I'm just an adul- terous man,” expecting the audience to laugh. Or imagine some- one saying, “I'm just a stinking child abuser,” thinking that he will endear himself to his hearers. It is to Satan's credit how we have taken the sin that is the deepest and the most serious and have minimized and trivialized it. Before we will make much progress in becoming truly humble before God and each other, we must see the seriousness of our pride.