Pride and shame are the broken mirror version of self awareness. The simplistic answer to how to fix this view is Jesus.
Throughout Jesus’ life and teachings we are being shown how to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God. At the center of his teaching we find the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7) or the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:17 - 49). In my opinion these passages contain Jesus’ primary teaching material. When he would travel from village to village some form of this is what he taught.
There are many lessons to learn from these passages but it all starts with what we call The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3 -12 & Luke 6:20 - 23). This section is a difficult mirror to look into.
When we look at ourselves through the mirror of the Beatitudes we see ourselves for who we truly are.
Pride and shame causes us to hide all our weaknesses and put on a veneer of having it all together. Instead Jesus teaches us not to hide when we are poor in spirit, when we mourn, when we hunger and thirst for righteousness. Jesus also teaches us to be meek, to be merciful, to be pure of heart and to make peace. When we live out these qualities the culture around us will look down on us or persecute us. These are perceived as weaknesses because our culture is based on selfish power.
Honesty and humility are the mirror that leads us to admit we have the qualities in our life. Jesus holds this mirror up for us to look at ourselves. We are blessed when we step out of our hiding place and expose ourselves to the LORD. Instead of a life with ourselves a god we follow Jesus’ example letting go of our selfishness and obediently acknowledging the LORD as the true God! (Philippians 2:6 - 11)
It is a harder life to live but it is only way to live a blessed life!
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