In Victory and Defeat.

So I watched a great football game last night. Both teams came to play and fought tooth and nail until the very end. I love watching games that keep you on the edge of your seat and come down to the last few plays. Down by 6 points and in possession of the ball the QB hurled what could have been the game winning pass into the end zone. As the ball hung in the air the cornerback leaped and spun just in time to get a single hand on it. It proved to be just enough to deflect the pass into the hands of a nearby teammate. Game over. Done. Finished. He had single handedly sealed the fate of two teams. His team headed for the Super Bowl and their opponents to the locker room. He was a hero.

But in the heat of the moment he felt the need to antagonize the other player. After incurring a personal foul he kept digging during a post-game interview. It was pitiful to watch. In what should have been a moment of triumph he suffered personal defeat. He rose to the occasion as an athlete, but sank in the moment as a man.

It reminds me of another account of pride found in Scripture -

^“Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother’s name was Jekoliah; she was from Jerusalem. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father Amaziah had done. He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success… But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense… Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead… King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous, and banned from the temple of the Lord. Jotham his son had charge of the palace and governed the people of the land.” - 2 Chronicles 26:3-21 (NIV)

Pride is like leprosy of the soul. Humility is not a sign of weakness, but rather of inner strength and character. True humility is being secure in who you are and compassionate to those around you. God wants us to be confident, not arrogant, in both victory and defeat.