Most folks think they
are better than average. Maybe they are right. A group of really bad people might just bring
down the average.
So to test this
researchers anonymously surveyed 85 folks between the ages of 18 to 34 in the
same place. When compared to their neighbors, the participants rated themselves
as more moral, kinder to others, more self-controlled, more law-abiding, more
compassionate, more generous, more dependable, more trustworthy, and more
honest. They also rated themselves as
higher on all these traits than "an average person", with one
exception - law-abiding (that one they said they were average).
There was a reason they
might have docked themselves in law-abiding, all the people surveyed were in prison.
They saw their neighbor, i.e. fellow prisoners,
as below average but not themselves.
For through the grace given to me I say to
everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think;
but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a
measure of faith. Romans 12:3
Pride is such a
dangerous trait because it keeps us from seeing the problem, ourselves. In
Galatians 6:3-5 we read, “For if anyone thinks he is something when he is
nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then
he will have reason for boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard
to another…”.
Those who have a
constant attitude of superiority tend to be the ones that usually are in the
most need of repair. This reminds us that the criteria we should use to judge
is not what others are doing but what we are.
Pride makes me think
I’m better than others. Humility helps me see I need to be a better me.
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