A Different Kind of “Pride”

“When the lovers of God teach you truth, a fountain of life opens up within you, and their wise instruction will deliver you from the ways of death.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭13:14‬ ‭TPT‬‬

“If you want to grow in wisdom, spend time with the wise. Walk with the wicked and you’ll eventually become just like them.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭13:20‬ ‭TPT‬‬

‬‬Reading these two proverbs I can’t help but think of lions.

Most cat species live a solitary existence, they have to defend, hunt and fight for themselves. But the powerful thing about lions is that they live in groups called prides. This means that if one is injured, the other lions defend, hunt and fight for the injured lion. This results in the injured lion being able to heal faster and carry on…

For the first half of my Christian walk, I was most definitely NOT a “lion in a pride” but more like a “rogue panther”, trying to figure things out on my own and do things my way, even when I was warned against it. I made some bad decisions and wasn’t walking in the fulness that God had planned for me.

It’s only after other “lions” intervened and taught me who I really was and showed me what wisdom and Godly council is, that I really started to understand the fountain of life that opens when you listen to wise instruction and correction.

I am grateful that God is patient with us in our ignorance, and still loves us, but I am also incredibly grateful that He is not a God who leaves us in our ignorance.

God will place wise counsellors around us and He has placed “the wisest counsellor” (the Holy Spirit) within us.

My responsibility then is to listen and trust what Holy Spirit tells me to do.

I would rather live with a pride of wounded lions, than to be a rogue panther on my own mission.