Pride and Prejudice

 As long as the one you love has too much pride, they will not be able to admit that they love you. Men who abuse women do so because they have a lot of pride.  They look down on their woman, perhaps because they have been trained their whole lives to look down on women.  Maybe the women they have known were not worthy of respect, so they never never learned to respect women.  

I was just thinking of the movie Pride and Prejudice. Mr. Darcy had so much pride because of his great wealth.  He did not think he needed anyone because he was so rich.  His money made him overly self-reliant.  Poverty can certain humble a person, and riches can make people very proud.  This is why Jesus said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter heaven."  Because when you have money, you don't think you need God.  When you have money, you don't think you need anyone. People who are rich often isolate themselves.  They might feel that everyone else will only drain them of their money, so they prefer to be alone.  Most people who are rich became rich because they are Not generous, loving people.  They like to hold on to their money and they don't let it go very easily.  Think of Mr. Scrooge from the Christmas Carol.  Often rich people don't have many friends, because friends need things from you and they don't like to share what they have. This is why I have never been rich for very long, because I am too generous.  And this is why rich people often come off as very proud. 

People can have pride for other reasons besides money.  I always had pride over being a good singer, or my intelligence, or my good looks.  This caused me to look down on others.  I was somewhat like Mr. Darcy. I didn't find many guys that I thought were better then me, so most of my life I stayed single.  I was wanting a guy who excelled over me in every way, but since that was hard to find, I just stayed single.  My brother asked me one time, "How are you going to find a leader when you are a leader?"  I said, "That is a good point."  According to the Bible, the man is supposed to be the head of the woman, but in order for that to work well, it helps if the man is superior to the woman in some way. I never found a guy that seemed superior to me.  I got better grades then most guys I knew. I have always been a harder worker then most guys I've known.  I even played basketball better then a lot of guys.  So I did not find many guys that I could truly respect and esteem as better then myself.  Until now.  

There is someone who I greatly respect and I have for a year now.  But now he is in the position that I used to be in, where he thinks he is better then everyone, and so he will not admit when he is in love. Pride blocks love. The main reason is because you do not want someone else to have an effect on you.  You do not want someone else to have power over you, and so your pride keeps you from admiting that you love someone.  You want to be the one in control of your own life, so you choose to not fall in love, or admit that you are in love. Hopefully he will let his ego down at some point and admit how much he loves me. :)