Folly of Pride
By: Ryan Lefler
Pride, a small five letter word with the might to collapse kings and their kingdoms. What does it mean to you? Do you picture an arrogant person who obsesses over their own life like the world should worship it? Maybe you picture someone who is good looking who truly believes it makes them better than you. Or perhaps they have wealth or power, socially towering over those around them. You’re not wrong if you imagined these traits when thinking about pride. God has told us numerous times about the folly of pride collapsing great men like Saul, Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, Uzziah, or even Herod.
However, there is a problem viewing pride as an issue only partnered with greatness and not as something in the heart of us all. If you were to ask me what comes to mind as I type these words when I think of pride it would be something unusual. I think of a homeless man that wanders my city.
There is a man who carries his belongings around finding sleep in a ditch up the road from where I work. I get to chat with him often while sparing a few moments of my life let him to know he is seen. While looking at this man and after a few minutes of chatting it would be incredibly easy for your heart to want to help him or offer some type of service. That's what goes through my head every one of the last dozen times we have conversed. However, he will deny the help every time and be extremely persistent that he doesn’t want your assistance with a smile on his face. To justify it he even tells me a story about how he always loses the things people give him. Which was odd to me since I never see him without his four blue canvas bags in hand. But, he will accept a prayer and that’s about all. A short time ago he sat up on a bench at a nearby gas station where we got to talking again. This time his spirits were down more than I had seen. He complained about losing his transistor radio and how he has to carry everything by hand since his backpack broke. Additionally, I made a quip about him not wearing his typical fishing branded ball cap, so he proceeded to tell me how it blew off his head. After a bit of time, I wrapped up the conversation with our usual quick prayer but this time a God moment occurred. In my back seat were 5 old hats of mine my mother had just firmly pushed back into my possession. And one was fishing themed as God does. To my own excitement I jumped back out and ran up to the man saying “God is pretty cool huh?” He silently smiled and half effort slung the hat on his head. I got back into my car thinking I can’t believe he actually let me give him something. It's normally a sparing match to even offer. So I did the next rational thing and ran to the store to grab him a new backpack and transistor radio that he had just been complaining about. After 45 minutes and a couple hundred dollars I went back to the man hoping to bring him some joy. Immediately, the sparring match began as usual. He wouldn’t take it. Even as I gently pleaded that I got it just for him just as a kind gesture and had no other use for it. His smile slowly turned to a snarl as he barked at me “I don’t need your help, I'm not under your authority.” I looked at him so bewildered at his response while realizing he was no longer wearing the hat I had just given him. He noticed me noticing and quickly conjured a story about how he left the hat at the gas station alongside a donated pair of shoes and another man's business card, all gifted items of course. And in an instant it all made sense. He will not accept help. A man sleeping in a ditch with four teeth in his mouth struggling everyday to get around will not accept help even after passively talking about wanting the items offered to him. What came off first as radical optimism and a boot straps mentality showed its true colors as the pride it is. It's something we all do to disguise our vulnerability. More often than not we just give it an empowering label like independent, self-sufficient, or not being a burden. While it might not be the king of the world pride we all know, it’s the stubbornness or inability to accept help even when help is the only thing you need.
I respected his wishes and left, driving home in confusion wondering why God would give me this opportunity for it only to be rejected. When asking that question to God, it only made more sense.
It's the same reason any human would deny God’s help, the pure pride of admitting we need it in the first place. My brain spiraled as I thought back to countless clients who were aware enough to know they needed counseling but prideful enough to backhand any help coming their way even as their personal choices destroyed their marriage, children, or themself. They would often rather die than take the hand trying to save them. While this type of pride is woven into the stories of great kings in history, it really is something we all have tattooed on our hearts just waiting for the freedom of being helped by a benevolent God and the people he uses to exercise his will.
Contrary to the homeless man, I once counseled a successful executive of an insurance company who was having some turmoil in his home. He naturally had a chip on his shoulder and a grin on his face. One day, after a fight with his wife he said to me “my wife called me prideful.” as he just sat ruminating on it. His eyes eventually came up, meeting mine, and he asked, “Do you think I'm prideful?” A tense moment for a counselor, being torn between insulting someone and telling them the difficult truth. “I think you’re prideful,” I responded. His head sunk, again ruminating on what I just told him as we continued on in conversation. A year of counseling went by and you would hardly recognize him. An attentive husband always willing to make sacrifices, an involved father who could advise his kids with great connection. I brought to his attention how much he had changed over the past year playfully asking “what do you think helped you get here the most?” He sat and thought, then a smile pulled up his face. “You called me prideful.” a small word with great might.
Our own pride causes us to think we are better than our worst moments or grasp onto poisonous beliefs because they are familiar or comfortable. Maybe you even think you don’t deserve the help or change being offered to you. Whether you're homeless or an insurance executive, when we look into the mirror and face who we truly are, and admit what we truly need, we must finally accept the hands both Godly and human that desire to help us. Because they love us not because they pity us. While the kingly pride is a tale as old as time, the inability to accept help is the pride that goes unnoticed. How many marriages are suffering because they can’t accept the help from their partner. How many children suffer because parents can’t accept they need help parenting. And how many people sever their personal relationship with God because they are certain they can earn their way completely on their own.
This fall feels especially meaningful at Peace Partnership. After months of planning and construction, our new space is complete, marking an important first step in our expansion. One counselor is already serving clients in the new space, and we are looking forward to the work ahead as we add more counselors, welcome more clients, and begin moving people from our waitlist into the care they have been waiting to receive.
Our second annual Fire & Purpose Dinner brought together an incredible group of people who share our heart for making counseling accessible. The evening was filled with exceptional food, meaningful conversation, and a shared commitment to helping bring peace within reach.
Our Fall Report offers a closer look at the lives being impacted and the progress your generosity is helping make possible. We are deeply grateful to have you beside us during this exciting season.
Our 7th Annual Christmas Raffle is officially open, and this year’s prize lineup makes it easy to see why this has become one of our favorite holiday traditions. Only 300 tickets are available at $100 each, and every ticket is entered in all 15 prize drawings.
Prizes include $1,000 cash, a $500 QuikTrip gift card, a Breville espresso maker, a BLUETTI solar generator, Meta Smart Glasses paired with Apple AirPods Max, a Trek bike, a Shark beauty bundle, a YETI bundle, an Especially Jewelry pendant necklace, and more.
For many people, beginning counseling means deciding which bill can wait. Rent, groceries, utilities, and mental health care should never have to compete. Your support helps ensure someone can receive affordable counseling without having to choose between their mental health and meeting everyday needs.
This is an exciting moment for Peace Partnership. Construction on our new space is complete, and one counseling office is already furnished, staffed, and welcoming clients. What began as a step of faith is now a place where people are sitting across from a counselor and receiving the care they have been waiting for.
Now, we are ready to open the remaining two offices. Furnishing those rooms and adding counselors could cut our waitlist nearly in half. That means more people hearing the words they have been waiting for: “We have a place for you.”
We are nearly 50 percent of the way to our expansion goal, and this is where the momentum becomes truly exciting. Sometimes the need grows before all the resources are in place. We chose to move forward in faith because we knew our community could not wait, trusting the Lord to provide the people and support needed to see this vision through.
Would you consider giving today to help us open these final two counseling offices? Your gift will help furnish the rooms and bring counselors into them, moving people off the waitlist and into care. For someone who has been waiting, your support could be the reason they finally hear, “We have a place for you.”
To our faithful partners, thank you for continuing to stand with Peace Partnership. Because of you, someone who has been waiting for help can sit across from a counselor and finally feel heard. Families can find guidance, individuals can find encouragement, and more people can receive care without carrying the burden alone.
As Peace Partnership grows, your faithfulness allows us to welcome more people into care and reach more lives throughout our community. We are deeply grateful to have you beside us in this work.
Aaron Linn, Andre & Rose Fantasma, Andrew & Kari Mills, Amanda Glodowski, Amy Bragaw, Ann Bartkoski, Ashley Kirn, Athena Brattin, Benjamin Overman, Betty Manes, Blake Cooke, Brandon & Vanessa Blanchard, Brittany Emily, Butch & Karen Bellis, Carol Jackson, Chris Birdsong, Church at Coffee Creek, Cyndi Eskina, Dan & Gigi Rippee, Dave & Rosie Bourland, Dave Schwirtz, Deborah Hammer, Demi Raveill Ortiz, Don Collins, Dorsey Embrey, Doug Bonebrake, Erin Dunn, Greg & Jennifer Spears, Greg Roy, Isaac King, James Lee, Jenny Wrobleski, Jeremiah 924 Foundation, Jill Getman, Joanna Hoover, Joel & Ruthie Morris, Joel Reed, John & Kimberly Shrader, John & Vicki Hefner, John Otradovec, Jon & Naomi Thompson, Jondy & Heather Britton, Lee & Debbie Miller, Lydia Hurley, Mandi Pollard, Mark McDonald, Matt Newton, Michael Hirons, Mike & Jan McGraw, Mike Hoover, Mitch Wink, Phil Rydman, Rachel Tovey, Rick & Jan Britton, Rick & Kathy Daulton, Roger & Jennifer Madsen, Roger & Laura Neir, Rudy & Stacy Blahnik, Sarah Vaughn, Scott Burgess, Shelly Schuman, Stephen Pretzer, Stone Amp SEO, Tamara Stroud, Taylor Petermann, Tim Blanchard, Timothy Owens, Willie Valdes, Zachery Walker, Zane & Melissa Morerod.
From every corner of this ministry, thank you. Your generosity is the reason we can keep showing up for kids, for families, and for healing that lasts.
Sometimes taking the first step toward counseling can feel like the hardest part. Refuge, a private Christian guidance app from Genesis Counseling, offers a place to begin. Created by Dr. Jon Thompson and informed by 23 years of clinical experience, Refuge provides Scripture-centered guidance for anxiety, marriage, stress, grief, and the questions that can be difficult to say out loud. Click the link below to start a conversation and explore your free trial.
Do you know a friend, church leader, or business owner who wants to make a lasting difference?
We would love to meet them, with a simple introduction, over coffee, or a tour of our office. It is a chance to share more about Peace Partnership, the heart behind what we do, and how generosity can bring hope to our community.
If someone comes to mind, we would love to hear from you. Your connection could open the door for even more lives to be transformed.
Contact: Ashley Kirn
Director of Development
816.716.1847
Have you or someone you know been helped by Peace Partnership or Genesis Counseling? If so, would you consider paying it forward so another person can begin their journey?
If you are not currently partnering with us financially, we invite you to consider a recurring gift of $100 per year for the next 3 years.
Together, those gifts help us meet real needs and keep counseling accessible.
You can set up your recurring donation online, or call our office!
Thank you for helping change lives one family at a time.
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