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NASB | Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, "Eat and drink!" But his heart is not with you. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he [in behavior--one who manipulates]. He says to you, "Eat and drink," Yet his heart is not with you [but it is begrudging the cost]. |
Bible Question: Pride is a good thing! Or is it? How many of us have raised our children encouraging them to be proud of themselves and to take pride in their accomplishments. Teaching them to have confidence in themselves. I know I did and I thought this was the right thing to do. But is it? What are some better ways we can teach our children God's truths and use this to teach them to be confident instead of teaching them to be prideful in themselves? |
Bible Answer: Upon reviewing this thread, I find that my last post may not have suffienciently answered your question. I would like to add my answer to the others. First, to understand pride one must also understand humility which is the opposite of pride.(Andrew Murrays book Humility is a good one for this.) False humility is as bad as pride. We all have value; so much value in fact that God Himself came down in the person of Jesus Christ and shed precious blood on a cross to reconcile us back to Himself. Also, he has given to each of us not only a measure of faith, but gifts and talents which are supposed to be used for His glory. Rom. 12:3 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. If we acknowledge our child's accomplishment, it should be in the context of giving glory to God. Teaching our children to accept a compliment graciously by saying, "Thank you. I am glad that God gave me the ability to this." is a good way to teach them to be humble, yet confident in this... Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. I home school my son who is very smart. He used to struggle with pride until I taught him that he can only do what he can do because God gave him his abilities. I also taught him that we are to be good stewards of all that God gives us. This means we do our best. We have to let them know when they have succeeded, so they are encouraged to continue using their gifts and talents for the glory of God. They also need to know that they have value. Knowing they have value, that everything they have comes from God and that He helps them use what He has given them for His glory (not their's) should be a good antidote for pride. At least it seems to be working for us. Hope this helps. Bows44 |