Why is the stripping away of pride so painful?

Why is the stripping away, the cutting out, of pride and arrogance from my soul so painful? It is certainly not because I love it so much, or that I will miss it. I am very happy to watch it go! So why is it so painful?

Pride is the very essence of sin…it is sin in its most quintessential sense. It is the desire to be equal with God, to exalt and protect self while not having to answer to anyone or anything. Pride is what lies at the heart of our sin, and it is what provides sin its fuel. This is why Satan is more than OK with losing the occasional skirmish with peripheral, moral failings. He will grant wins against lust, anger, cursing, drinking, even drugs, without great concern. So long as Pride remains intact, even these moral wins can be turned into failure. However, if a person supernaturally gains victory over their pride, our Enemy knows that the battle is well and truly lost. That person has lost that inner voice that turns all things, even good things, into evil as it turns the eyes of the soul away from God and onto self. The greater the defeat Pride suffers, the greater God’s glory and goodness and kindness and love is revealed in one of God’s children. So Pride’s surrender will be opposed at all cost, and even the smallest victories over Pride will be met with such a heavy cost from the Enemy and the flesh that the person will be loathe to address it again any time soon.

Lord of Heaven, have mercy to fill us with the strength and courage to lay down our Pride, no matter the cost. Amen.