Spirited Girlz
Girlz and God
for tweens
Can U Relate?
LOL
Say What?!
What is a SG?
The Pride Ride
"I'll announce those of you who made a 100 on the test after lunch," Mrs. Campbell stated as she gathered her papers into a pile and tapped them on their side to get them in order. "I need to check for spelling errors first, which would just be pitiful if you lost your 100 over that," she frowned then winked at her students.
The class looked around at each other anxious for their grade results. The last test before report cards were issued, many of them knew this grade could mean the difference between and A and a B, or a B and a C.
"If I get a 100, Ill be able to pull my grade up to an A," Maggie whispered to Jessica as they packed their things and gathered their lunch money. She'd been struggling for weeks to pull her grades up.
"I've got an A no matter what I do on that test. But, I know Ill get an A anyway," Jessica answered loud enough for the entire class to hear. Deena and Kristy rolled their eyes, tired of Jessica's constant bragging.
When class returned from the lunchroom, Mrs. Campbell stood in front of her desk and announced the 100s. Jessica's name was at the top of the list. Maggie's was not. When the rest of the papers were handed out, Maggie looked down to find a 94 and two words circled on her page. Her heart sank. She glanced at Jessica hoping she hadn't seen her mistakes.
"I guess someone we know is just pitiful," Jessica said in a loud whisper and smiling to herself. Deena and Kristy walked over to Maggie and patted her on the back as the three of them turned and walked away.
Have you ever been friends with someone like Jessica?
While being proud of yourself for doing well on a test is normal, being full of pride to the point of boastfulness is harmful to you and those around you. Pride like Jessica's focuses only on your opinion of yourself. By valuing your opinion more than the feelings of others, you put yourself in a position to fall.
The Bible says "Don't think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us."
Lets face it. None of us are any better than another. We are all equal in Gods eyes. Believing that you are somehow better than someone else because of good grades, or athletic ability or beauty is really being dishonest with yourself. The only measure we can justify is that of our faith. Are we doing the right things for God?
Jessicas pride over her grades showed her classmates that making herself seem better than them was a way for her to feel good about herself. But, at the heart of her comment was cruelty to others. She not only hurt her friend Maggie, but probably other classmates who did not do as well. And, she caused the girls in her class to turn away from her. In the end, pride caused Jessica to be the type of person that no one wanted to be around.
So, keep your pride in check. Be proud of your accomplishments, but not to the point that you begin to think of yourself as better than others because of them.
