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That pride is hated by God himself, listen to what Scripture says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). And in another place: “Pride is hateful to both the Lord and people and is criminal against both” (Sir. 10:7). And: “What is the pride of earth and ashes?” (Sir. 10:9). And in many places you will find that pride is vile and very hateful. So here [the prophet David] says: with a proud look and an insatiable heart - with this I have not eaten (Ps. 100:5), since pride is extremely harmful and destructive not only for the one who has adopted it, but also for the one who does not share it for a long time. The prophet placed the greedy, hungry-hearted next to the proud, since the spiritual disposition of both is the same - both the one who rises above his neighbor and the greedy in relation to his neighbor. So, it’s good, brethren, for us to put aside pride and acquire humility, so that we hear not: “he who exalts himself will be humbled,” but: “he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14). At the same time, it is good to strengthen yourself in self-restraint and moderation, so that with the greed of your heart you do not drive away the truth from yourself and then hear: “Because of the multitude of your iniquities, your hem is uncovered, your heels are exposed” (Jer. 13:22). Let us avoid the behavior characteristic of proud and greedy people, so that, due to the habit of communicating with them, we do not internalize their vices (3). Such is evil - pride; it produces in everyone that he does not know himself, and after much labor destroys the entire treasure of virtue. Other sins usually arise from our carelessness; and it arises in us when we do the right thing. Usually nothing produces pride like a good conscience, if we are not careful. That’s why Christ, knowing that this passion comes to us after good deeds, told his disciples: when you have fulfilled everything commanded to you, say: “We are worthless servants, because we did what we had to do” (Luke 17:10). When this beast approaches you, then with these words, he says, lock the doors from him. He did not say: when you have completed everything, then you are worth nothing; but you yourself say: we are worthless slaves, because we did what we had to do; speak, do not be afraid, I do not pronounce judgment on your judgment. If you yourself call yourself indecent, then I will crown you as profane. So in another place God says: “You speak in order to be justified” (Is. 43:26). In external courts, after accusation and confession of crimes, death is imposed; and in the divine judgment seat after recognition - a crown. That is why Solomon said: “Do not justify yourself before the Lord” (Sir. 7:5) (4). Are you righteous? Don't humiliate your brother. Are you adorned with good deeds? Do not vilify your neighbor and refrain from praising yourself. As high as you are, humble yourself. Listen carefully to my words, beloved. A righteous person should fear pride more than a sinner - I said this yesterday and repeat it today for those who were not there yesterday - because a sinner necessarily has a humble conscience, but a righteous person can be proud of his good deeds. Just as among seafarers those who have an empty ship are not afraid of a gang of robbers, because they do not attack an empty ship, but those who have a ship filled with cargo are afraid of robbers, because the robber usually appears where there is gold, where there is silver, where precious stones are - so the devil does not quickly attack the sinner, but the righteous, where there is a lot of wealth. Pride often comes from the slander of the devil; therefore you need to stay awake. As high as you are, humble yourself. When you ascend to a height, then you need to be careful not to fall. That is why our Lord says: and you, when you have fulfilled everything commanded you, say: “We are worthless servants, because we did what we had to do” (Luke 17:10). What do you think a lot about yourself, being a man akin to the earth, consubstantial with ashes, both by nature, and by thoughts, and by will in deeds? Today you are rich, tomorrow you are poor; today healthy, tomorrow sick; today he is happy, tomorrow he is sad; today in glory, tomorrow in dishonor; today young, tomorrow old. Is anything human durable and doesn’t it flow like river streams? It has just appeared and is already leaving us faster than a shadow. Why do you exalt yourself, O man, smoke, vanity? Man is like vanity: “his days pass away like a shadow” (Ps. 143:4). “The grass withers, the flower fades” (Isa. 40:7). I say this not to humiliate the human being, but to curb pride. A great creature is man, and a venerable being is a merciful man (4). The proud person usually considers himself above everyone else and does not recognize anyone as his equal, and no matter how much honor he enjoys, he always desires and strives for more; thinks he hasn't received anything yet; despises people and seeks respect from them. What could be more reckless than this? This is something mysterious: a person seeks respect for himself from those whom he respects as nothing. Do you see how he who wants to ascend falls and grovels to the ground? And that he considers all people to be nothing in comparison with himself, he himself clearly reveals this: this is precisely the property of arrogance. So why do you resort to something that costs nothing? Why do you seek honor from him? Why do you have so many people with you? Here is a low one, which stands in a low place! (7) God abhors nothing more than pride. That’s why he arranged everything this way from the beginning in order to destroy this passion in us. For this we became mortal, we live in sorrow and lamentation; For this, our life is spent in labor and exhaustion, burdened with continuous work. The first man fell into sin out of pride, desiring to be equal to God, and for this he did not keep even what he had, but lost even that. These are the fruits of pride! Not only does it not bring us any benefit, but it also deprives us of what we have. On the contrary, humility not only does not take away from us what we have, but also provides what we do not have. So, let us be jealous of this virtue and strive to acquire it, so that we may enjoy honor in this life and acquire future glory (7). A Christian should avoid both pride and flattery and ignoble thoughts. Whoever says, for example, that he does not value property as anything and considers everything present to be a shadow, a dream and children's toys, we do not accuse him of pride - otherwise we would have to accuse Solomon of pride, who, philosophizing about this, says: “vanity of vanities - all is vanity!” (Eccl. 1:2). But let us not call wisdom by the name of pride. To despise real blessings is not pride, but generosity, although kings, rulers, and nobles do not reject them. The poor in wisdom often despises them; but we will not call him proud for this; just as we will not call a person who is too attached to them moderate and humble-wise, but weak, cowardly and partial. We would not call a son who did not think about the things that belonged to his father, but were busy with the things that belong to a slave, we would not call him humble, but would condemn him as a person with ignoble and slavish feelings; and we would extol the one who despised the things of slavery and valued the things of his father with praise. Considering yourself better than people like yourself is pride, and making a true judgment about things is not pride, but wisdom (12). You might be interested in: