When is pride sinful?

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I’ve got a situation to apply it to, may be a slightly silly one, but nonetheless… I understand that there’s nothing wrong with being proud of an accomplishment, or similar things, but what aspect of pride has to be present to be sinful, and where does it apply?

As for my situation that may be a bit silly… I’ve been elected to the Valentine’s Court (the princes and princesses for the dance). The princesses will be wearing their tiaras for the next two weeks, and everyone will be getting t-shirts for wearing on the Monday preceding, and day of, the dance. However, I would like to wear this shirt on an extra day or two, for several reasons. We have…
  1. Being very excited
  2. It being a conversation starter for people I know from various classes (Interestingly, I’m one of the princes, and not very social. I’ve been working on that…)
  3. It seems silly that the princesses are clearly designated every day, and the princes are not.
Unless I’m much mistaken, these, especially number one, are at least fine reasons. However, I have been feeling that it would be nice to be noticed in the halls for once. (I suppose plenty of people had to vote for me, so maybe that already happens, I don’t know…) My logical side says that it doesn’t matter what people that I don’t know think, but it is still there. (See reason 2 for people I do know.) I’d love to just shut that part down, and enjoy this whole thing, since that is the point of it, but it’s going to stay, it is a vice, after all… I suppose it’s also silly that I’m worried about whether I should be trying to enjoy it, because of this. Are the good reasons enough to make it worth going ahead?

That might be a question only I can answer, of course… Sigh My scruples hard at work…
 
“Humility, by preference, always goes clad in scarlet and gold. Pride refuses to let scarlet and gold please it too much.”
–G. K. Chesterton.

It’s actually just a sign that you’re humble enough to want others to like you–you acknowledge that their opinions matter to you. Chesterton, the king of paradoxes, actually says that vanity is just a mixed-up kind of humility.

“Self is the Gorgon. Vanity sees it in the mirror of others, and is saved. Pride looks at it straight on, and is turned to stone.”

9 times out of 10, when someone tries to move beyond vanity, they move into spiritual pride–the sin of Satan. “Oh,” they say, haughtily, “I’m so far beyond caring what others think of me.” What they generally don’t mention is, God counts as one of those “others” whose opinion they don’t care about.

So don’t worry about being vain–a huge part of vanity is wanting others to like you, because they matter to you; another part is wanting to give pleasure to those who view you, by being beautiful (yeah, I know you’re a guy, but that’s the philosophical term for it). Gee, that’s just terrible, isn’t it?

Also, remember the line, “…unless you turn and become like little children…” A child likes to look nice, likes to praised when he can do something, likes people to laugh at his jokes. It’s only grownups, in their sophistry, who can pretend those things don’t matter. What they usually mean is, “other people don’t matter, so I don’t care how they see me.” Sure, some saints have gone to the point where they only care about God’s opinion, but not caring about other people’s opinions is not the shortcut to that.
 
Actually, your post just got me thinking… Though I’m excited now, I wouldn’t have agreed to this if they asked me if I wanted to be on the ballot at the start of the whole process… I suppose that since I was elected to this, the people I know obviously wanted me to have and enjoy this. That does sound like humility to me… I’ll wait for a few more opinions, though.
 
The sinful kind of pride has nothing to do with feeling good about your own accomplishments. Pride is when you think you know better than God (which includes thinking you know better than the Church- since Christ himself instituted the Church).
 
I consider pride to be a sin in all occasions. Being proud of what I did because I am good, to me is a sin. It brings all the focus only on me.

However, there is nothing wrong with being pleased with the outcome of certain situations. It is all right to be happy when we receive attention. We should be pleased when we try our best and we are gifted with good results.

What I am trying to say here is that I try to keep separate the word pride (a sin) from being pleased about outcomes. The intent is the essence here. Pride means giving ourselves all the credit for something that is not really under our control. While being pleased for the outcome of a good effort allows us to acknowledge that a lot has to do with external factors.

In your situation I see more happiness with the outcome than real pride. You did your best, you got the gift of success and now you are happy. Nothing wrong with it.
 
I would say, when we attribute to our own power and merits that which was given to us by God.
 
Firefox, if you were to say, “Of *course *I was elected prince! I deserve it because of my good looks and brilliance!” then I might think you were being prideful.

Your attitude seems to lack that kind of pride. You seem to be saying, “Wow, I was elected prince! I didn’t know people liked me that much!” which is pleasantly humble.

God gave you a treat - enjoy it!

Having said that, you should probably stick to the status quo as to wearing the shirt.

Have fun at the dance!
 
Is it sinful for a cabinet maker, bricklayer, welder, painter, surgeon, accountant, typist, … name it…
To take pride in doing a job “well done”, and enjoying the accolades from others appreciating their efforts?

My daughter just brought home a straight “A” report card for this semester. She is floating on Cloud 9. All of her hard work and sacrifice has payed off. Should I tell her that “The grades are “nice”, but you need to go to confession because you are too pride-ful of your accomplishment”.

No. Don’t think so.

She’s not “boasting”, or “rubbing anyone’s nose in it” - just very pleased with herself for overcoming difficulties, and getting some recognition for her hard work.
 
From the glossary of the Catechism:

**PRIDE: **One of the seven capital sins. Pride is undue self-esteem or self-love, which seeks attention and honor and sets oneself in competition with God (1866).

It might be helpful to search for “pride” in the index of the Catechism, or online:

scborromeo.org/ccc.htm
 
Thanks for all the answers, I’ve made a decision. I’ll be posting another of my questions in another topic now…
 
Recently, I became very interested in the sin of pride and what it means. Chesterton has a lot to say -
%between%
 
Firefox wrote
I understand that there’s nothing wrong with being proud of an accomplishment, or similar things, but what aspect of pride has to be present to be sinful, and where does it apply?
Click to expand...
One of the things which makes me feel very proud is to genuflect to and humble myself before the Blessed Sacrament

I also paradoxically find that very empowering 👍

I think that if you work hard for something and you eventually get it, then why not feel proud and give yourself a BIG pat on the back. But don’t forget to give God a BIG pat on the back too, for it was through His love and mercy that you did it and even went that way to find out about it in the first place, else without Him, it may never have happened.

I think pride is wrong when we put ourselves in that special place in our hearts reserved only for God 👍
 
I have achieved many things in my life both great and small. Not I but God in me, I did nothing, He did it all. I was merely His instrument.

Praise God 👍
 
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