Often when we think of the sin of pride, we think of someone (not ourselves), who constantly talks about how amazing they are.
While that can be one expression of pride, it is not the full picture.
The Catholic Encyclopedia defines pride as "the excessive love of one's own excellence" and the "frame of mind in which a man, through the love of his own worth, aims to withdraw himself from subjection to Almighty God."
We are prideful whenever we seek to divorce ourselves from God, and rely solely on our own merits.
Doing nothing
Interestingly, we can be prideful when we refuse the gifts God has given us and simply do nothing with them.
St. Francis de Sales points this out in his Introduction to the Devout Life:
God’s Will is that we should be perfect, uniting ourselves to Him, and imitating Him to the utmost of our powers. The proud man who trusts in himself may well undertake nothing.
When we refuse to do God's will in our lives, or refuse to preach the Gospel in any way, we are being prideful.
We are trusting more in ourselves than in God.
It is true that left to ourselves, we cannot do anything. Only through God's grace can we accomplish anything on this earth.
If we humble ourselves, explains St. Francis de Sales, it is then when we are strong:
[T]he humble man is all the braver that he knows his own helplessness, and his courage waxes in proportion to his low opinion of himself, because all his trust is in God, Who delights to show forth His Power in our weakness, His Mercy in our misery.
We certainly may be a sinful vessel, but God still can use us if we let him.
God may not be calling us to preach on the street corners, or to become a priest or nun, but we can bring Christ to everyone we meet.
The key is to do something, letting God use us however he wishes.
