Written by: Danielle Nutter
The Seven Cardinal Sins
The Seven Cardinal Sins are immoral behaviors we take part in that interfere with our spiritual evolution, such as pride, greed, envy, lust, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. Pride is listed as the number one Cardinal Sin and is defined as having an ‘unreasonable self-esteem.’ It is also described as having self-respect and knowing your self-worth. So, is having pride a positive or negative attitude, and when does it become a problem?
My Battle With The Seven Cardinal Sins
Of all the Cardinal Sins, pride was the most evident sin I needed to adjust. I am unsure when or how I became so prideful, but I have always thought highly of myself and my abilities. Unknowingly, I unintentionally fueled my ego as I accomplished my goals and acquired more material things. I was unaware of the monster I created within, and looking back at my past actions, I now see that I believed I was superior to others in some ways and acted like a know-it-all.
Step 6: Get ready to have God remove all of those defects of character.
Heal’n My Cardinal Sins
Being prideful is when someone has an excessive or inflated image of themselves and behaves in an arrogant, conceited, or egotistical manner.
If I never had my heart broken, I might have never realized that arrogance was in my personality and actions. Of all my character flaws, pride was the most challenging flaw to balance. I looked forward to rebuilding a new me, and I thought getting rid of the traits that made my identity ‘ugly’ would be enjoyable and make me feel better about improving myself, but it was the opposite.
Being delivered from my pride was torture! Having it reduced and withered down was the most embarrassing and humiliating sequence of events I have ever endured! To shed my layers of self-importance, God led me to situations where I was insignificant and had to rely on others for help. Here are a few examples of how my ego was deflated:
Example 1: When I quit my job and relocated to Florida, I planned to start my own business hosting youth sports leagues and tournaments because Florida is the mecca of recreational sports!
After setting up the business’s administrative portion, all I had to do was advertise and register participants for my clubs and events. Unfortunately, I could not attract a single kid – not one! I attempted three different times to get my business off the ground. I did my research, planning, and marketing, but all my efforts were in vain. I’ve always been successful and able to exceed my goals, but not this time! My ego was crushed!
Example 2: After moving to Florida, I didn’t want to be a teacher anymore, but still wanted to work with children. Because I had a master’s degree in recreation management, I thought I could work behind the scenes in youth programs. I applied to numerous agencies. With my credentials and resume, none of them hired me!
My retirement money ran out. To support myself, I was forced to look for temporary work. I found a company that offered minimum wage pay ($8.56 per hour) and issued a check the same day you worked. They assigned me to jobs that I never knew existed. I was scheduled to do gigs like digging shallow trenches, laying sod, cleaning up wasted materials on construction sites, sweeping out newly built homes at new housing developments, spinning a sign on the street corner to advertise for businesses, picking up trash at dump sites and along highways; and my favorite, cleaning and sanitizing public transit buses.
All of these jobs were filthy, required me to work with other people I would not normally interact with, and came with a supervisor that talked to and treated me like I was the scum of the earth. Because I needed the money for bills and food, I had to swallow my pride to survive!
Example 3: One unexpected situation happened after another. If it wasn’t my car breaking down, it was my RV needing repairs, or a job I planned to work fell through. Something was always happening that cost money. Because of all the unexpected occurrences, I had trouble making ends meet. I was forced to ask my family, friends, and one of my neighbors for money to eat and pay my RV lot rent. Eventually, I lost my truck due to non-payment. After the repossession, I had to ride public transportation to work and ask others to take me to the store. Because I could barely take care of myself, my self-worth diminished!
Not having enough money and being treated insignificantly at the jobs I worked knocked my ego down to ground zero. What is more impressive is the number of less fortunate people I met during these experiences who had a mountain of faith in God and excellent knowledge of how He works. Unbelievable! They taught me that you don’t have to have a lot of money or material things to feel happy. The little blessing of having enough money to buy food became a miracle for me!
1 Peter 5:6 (NIV)
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.
Remember For Your Heal’n
Read over all seven of the Cardinal Sins and see which one(s) you have noticed in others and your actions. Listed below are the Cardinal Sins and seven Heavenly Virtues that can be practiced to correct immoral behavior.
Now that you know the seven sins and virtues, try to purposely replace those bad habits with goodwill and service to others. Doing so will help you grow spiritually and fill your life with happiness and purpose.
Your Two Cents…
What heavenly virtue are you? Leave your comments below.