How Pride Develops in a Child

Pride is developed in many different areas and some areas common to almost everyone. Pride is encouraged when a youngster performs approvingly in school or other activities.

The child learns a false standard of performance labeled only good or bad, or winner or loser with those performing less well being described as "loser" or possibly even derogatory terms used to describing them as not good enough. The child learns to associate less than capable performance with a weakness in the person.

We are taught through observing adults demean those who are physically weaker and less capable. This extends to race, gender, faith, anything or anyone who may be "different" from the accepted norm. This kind of pride in a child develops in forms of racism and bigotry.

A child does not need anyone's direct involvement in this society to develop a prideful attitude. Parents', friends, and all forms of media bombard a child with the glorification of self and independent attitude where personal accomplishments are held up and esteemed and winning at all costs is ok.

People are judged as winners and losers and those "losers" are denigrated and scorned.A child watching this learns to fear being labeled a loser and also learns to apply the same discrimination to others.

Children are taught to model themselves after prominent and famous successful people not understanding that the bad behavior and their success may be totally separate issues.

A child has not learned to discern good from bad in such a complicated situation. All they see and understand is that pride in yourself comes from winning at whatever you do and that anything but first means you're not good enough.

A haughty- Spirit, unapproachable, vanity, self-protection, know-it-all, rebellion, and spiritual pride all common to man and has been committed by everyone some time. These forms can often be committed without awareness or vaguely being aware' their conscious weakly signaling them in the background that it is wrong but their persistence over-rides the message to continue their aberration.

Haughty people or the more commonly used term 'high and mighty" are those people who expect almost demand attention, expect to be recognized, honored, and catered to. As with all prideful people, seek praise.

The unapproachable is a difficult one and not so common as a haughty spirited one. They will be condescending and appear to be highly selective to whom or what they will listen to. They are vociferous in rejecting any correction or suggestion contrary to their thinking.

Overly sensitive to criticism to the level that if they are not sure if what they hear is correction, will reject what is said before any clarification. A person like this places himself above reproof from anyone including God whose reproof is most necessary.

I believe vanity has become a genetic trait of our society. We prance, primp, and dance about reveling in their "sexiness", the skimpiness of our dress and grooming, wooing over theirs and those like them; their assumed understanding of beauty. Ironically, the same behaviors and attitudes the earlier feminists railed against! Children are exposed to and encouraged to accept these things that support their vane behavior.

The self-protective and the unapproachable obviously overlap. The unapproachable is by nature self-protective, defending their person against perceived attacks. They may have a strident attitude when they feel threatened just as an unapproachable feels threatened and challenged. The difference is the self-protective are feeling attacked and the unapproachable feels that you have no right to correct them. Both will react from a defensive posture.

The know-it-all is unique in that they generally are above average intelligence but many of them don't live up to their potential. I have met many who wasted their time being very knowledgeable with trivial information.

Then there are those who, no matter what you say, know someone or something bigger, better, faster. These people will actually contradict their statements. An odd attribute about the know-it-all is that when referring to knowledge of some things greater and better, he never actually saw what he was speaking about.

The rebellious one could easily be an anarchist rejecting the counsel of authority and rejecting authority generally. Rebellious people would have problems at work and in marriage and especially submitting to God.

Spiritual pride I feel is the most dangerous form to the church. It can corrupt teaching with personal opinion about what is spiritual. Their spirituality is action-based like a Pharisee, law-based, only focused on the technical obedience to the law and not about Grace and renewing the heart. They hold themselves up as the model Christian while ignoring the plank in their own eyes.[i]

Their vanity is rooted in their self-perception of spirituality, resistant to anyone correcting their views, unapproachable by those deemed less spiritual and knowledgeable and a know-it-all in the word of God.

[i]http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%206:39-45;&version=49;