The Pride of LifeOkay, here's an eye-opener for all you moms out there. Raise your hand if your pride makes you an angry mom! (See my hand raised.)
I confess that I hadn't seen it before, but the Lord showed me very clearly yesterday how pride gets in the way of me being the very best and holiest mom I can be. Do you ever see red when you stoop to pick up that toy for the fifth time? Does it seem like you could be doing something better than looking over everyone's shoulder, making sure they pick up their rooms? Are you especially sensitive to the wrong words that spill out of your teen's mouth - when somewhere inside you know they didn't mean it that way? Does it seem to you that SOMEONE else in this full house could clean the toilet this week?
Now, I'm not intimating that a family needs to pull together to help mother -- that's healthy. But I am suggesting that when you start feeling put upon by the strain of years and years of mothering that just don't seem to be going anywhere -- well, it may be your pride that's suggesting to you, "you're better than that! Look at all you do and never get any pat on the back! Why, where would they be if you didn't make dinner tonight, huh? It seems to me like you've deserve a LITTLE more appreciation, don't you think?".... well, ladies (and dads, too) - that's not the Holy Spirit speaking, no sirree. That's your pride, trying to impress upon you that you have better things to do.
How to combat Pride
Remember first of all that this, like all others, is another one of those SPIRITUAL battles... stop lashing out at your flesh and blood, and see it for what it is. Figure out what the opposite virtue to this vice is -- and practice it! Pride is nothing more than an absence of humility.
Think on Christ ... see how he patiently, even painstakingly, taught the disciples... over and over and over again. If anyone ever felt he was going nowhere, it certainly would have been Our Lord. But in his humility, instead of exasperatingly insisting that the disciples see him as the King of Kings, he picks up a towel and washes their feet!
Be humbled before the Lord. See the duties - the dishes, the toilets -- that He lays before you today, and accept them with humility. You will be surpised how easy it becomes, not only to complete the tasks, but to be the kindly and loving mother you hope your children will remember.
Thy Kingdom Come!