Finding an example of someone that is prideful isn't hard for me. My dad will always be the first person that pops into my mind. It was never his fault for anything that went wrong and no one else could do things as good as he could, or so he thought. Then I have to stop and think about myself. It was my pride that was behind the "I will show him" attitude. It is also behind the bItterness that I used to protect myself from the emotional hurts and "I'm not going to let him hurt me again" attitude. We all have our areas of prIde that pops up every now and then.
Let's look at how prIde gets in the way.
When we are in the "I'm better than everyone" mode there are several areas that pride damages. First, it damages relationships with other people. The focus is on ME which doesn't allow room for others to develope any kind of a close relationship. It also stops people wanting to be your friend. It also destroys family relationships. Even after my dad moved out, years later he was still insisting that he did nothing to deserve the way I had locked him out of my life, in an amends letter that he wrote. Secondly, as we see with Job and his insisting that he had done nothing wrong, he ends up blaming God for his bitterness and that God was treating him unjustly, prIde destroys or he view of God.
When we use prIde to drive us to show that we can do something that someone else says we aren't able to do doesn't prove a thing. Usually we are doing it because our pride is hurt because of the person's lack of faith in us or their own prIde. It hurts us because we are setting ourselves up for rejection again from that person. They may never see what we do as being good enough. We also get stuck in a cycle to prove ourselves to everyone that we come in contact with. Seeking man's approval. This is what injures our relationship with God because we are searching for man's approval when all we need is God's approval. We don't have to prove anything to get God's approval. He loves us just they way we are. When we come to Him as a filthy sinner we are He loves us and washes us with the blood of His Son, Jesus, that He sees us as perfect.
When prIde is use to protect us from emotional hurts becomes bitterness. I'm not going to let anyone hurt me again. That phrase not only locks out others from getting close but also is telling God that you know better than Him in what is best for you. God is the One that created you, don't you think that He would know what is best for you? Bitterness just keeps us feeling, letting go and healing the hurt.