This is kind of an off topic post, however here over the last few weeks we have been having some serious issues with our broadband internet connection. Under other circumstances this wouldn’t be as big of a deal, however our phone is over our internet and we need a somewhat reliable connection in order to use our phone. We currently have Cable tv and 3 Mbps internet connection and up until recently have had no problems. Now however we cannot hardly talk on the phone without the signal breaking up. After doing several speed tests I discovered our bandwidth was running at half of what we are paying for or less. We called the cable company and I was treated like a complete moron as if I didn’t know a thing about computers or networks. After several phone calls I was able to get a technician to come out to check out our service. The technician came out and for some strange reason everything worked fine (which was infuriating). Two or three days later my connection was on the fritz again.

Yesterday we did some research and discovered switching back to DSL @ 6 Mbps would cost us half what we pay now and switching to satellite would make our overall bill about $5 cheaper. On top of being cheaper, we are able to get a dvr. We tried getting one from our cable company, but they wanted us to pay them $15 a month to rent one, which is ridiculous. This means we can record the shows we want to watch and not have to put up with some of the horrible garbage that is played on tv nowadays.

We realize that having broadband internet and satellite/cable tv is really a luxury, and not really necessary. We have cut way back on our television viewing over the last year, and are looking forward to being able to filter out most of what we don’t want to subject ourselves to and our children to using the dvr.

So goodbye cable and hello again to dsl and for the first time in my life satellite tv.

Today I made my first post in a week. I have had a really long week to say the least and all that I had time, or energy to do was to log on to the blog for a few minutes and moderate any comments. As of last weekend I made the switch from 12 hour night shifts to 12 hour day shifts, after only 24 hours to adjust. This was difficult for me as for the last 5 years I have worked 12 hour night shifts almost exclusively.

What made the week harder however was the return of my cold on Wednesday at work. This pretty much put me out of commission on both of my days off. Fortunately the rest and medicine was able to get me through the next 3 days of work and now I am almost back to normal. The week was almost a total blur, as half the time I felt like a walking zombie. Also, as weird as this sounds but it feels so strange to be up and at work during the day. I am just so used to sleeping most of my days away.

My little one has had a hard time getting used to my new schedule as well. Normally, I get home around the time he’s waking up and spend some time with him in the morning. I’d wake up around supper time and spend the evening with him and put him to bed. Now, I am gone before he wakes up and I don’t get home until he’s already in bed or about ready to pass out on the floor waiting for me. He asks numerous times throughout the day, “where’s daddy?”. The upside to this new schedule is first, I will be back to a normal sleep schedule for a change. Secondly, I will be able to spend more of my time off with my wife and son during the daylight hours. I am still not totally adjusted to my new schedule but it’s only a matter of time before I am back to normal.

Anyway, that is what has been happening in my little corner of the world.

My wife has tagged me to share 7 random facts about myself. Here are my facts:

1. I almost never go barefooted, about the only times I go barefooted is when taking a shower or swimming. I always have to have at least a pair of socks on my feet.
2. When it comes to driving I am a control freak. If I am not driving, I am almost more alert than when I am driving; looking for hazards, dangerous drivers, or commenting on the habits or driving of the person behind the wheel. I used to catch myself going for the “imaginary” brake pedal on the passenger side. (I am a horrible backseat driver).
3. I have a tendency to collect electronics or especially computer parts. Many times I think “I could use that someday” and pick it up, whether or not I ever will use it. I am an electronics pack-rat. My wife has forced me to get rid of about half of what I had, which has done me some good. I don’t really have any interest in collecting the other stuff that most people have a tendency to collect, just the electronics and computer gadgets.
4. When I was around 5-6 years old I would go to my grandmothers house and pick a wagon full of lemons and I would go around the neighborhood selling them door to door for 5 cents each. My grandmother painted a picture of me just a couple years ago sitting by my wagon full of lemons with a sale sign, this painting hangs on my wall above my kitchen table.
5. My wife sometimes calls me the human dictionary, because I have a huge vocabulary and have a tendency to remember sometimes obscure words and their meanings. Growing up I was a book worm, and would normally be reading a book way ahead of my years. I would often go and ask my mom what this word meant or what that word meant. My mother got out the dictionary and told me to look it up. So when I ran out of books I read the dictionary, or a thesaurus, or a whole volume of encyclopedias (no joke).
6. I am a big astronomy and physics buff. I am one of the only non-college educated people I know who has a working knowledge and understanding of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, Quantum Physics, and other theoretical physics.
7. Throughout my childhood I have moved at least 30 or more times, I’ve attended probably a dozen or more different schools from grade school through high school. I’ve lived in the following states/countries as well: California,Washington, Texas, Iowa, Nebraska, Hawaii, Okinawa Japan.

So there’s my Random facts about me. Now I’m supposed to tag 7 more people.

1. InspiredWord
2. PureMotif
3. light4mypath
4. Jessica Leigh
5. Sean McKee
6. Little Nuances
7. Soulfaith

And finally the rules:

• Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
• Share 7 facts on your blog.
• Tag 7 people at the end of your post, linking to their blogs.
• Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Over the last few years, i.e. since I have been married, and especially over the last year; I have started to see a major emotional problem that I have developed growing up. My emotional problem has been Suppressed Emotional Expression. I grew up in a drug abusive, and alcoholic family, which was not good for the emotional well being of any child. The two main emotions expressed in my house were extreme anger or sadness or despair. I was very emotional as a child, I think part of this was in response to my family life and circumstances. This was clearly unacceptable to my father, who made it clear that men do not cry and if I wanted to be a man I wouldn’t cry about every little thing. At some point in my teen years I began suppressing almost all of my emotions. I’m not exactly sure at what point this started however, I believe it began around the time of my severe depression and drug use in my late teens. As a result of this emotional suppression for the last 12 years I have struggled with properly expressing most of my emotions.

My biggest problem has been my short fuse. It seems that it doesn’t really take that much to blow my top, and naturally my anger is usually disproportionate to the situation. My anger is the only real emotion that I don’t have a problem expressing. What initially caused me to start looking into my emotional problems was the problems that quickly began to arise in my marriage. These problems ultimately culminated in an affair and pretty much forced us to face our problems as a couple and to address our own personal issues as well. We sought treatment from a counselor to assist us in dealing with our issues personally as well as maritally. This caused me to really investigate where my problem stemmed from and then how to address it.

Part of the solution has been an acknowledgment of the problem itself. This in itself didn’t fix the problem, but it has helped me to consciously attempt to remedy it. The other more amazing solution has been my acceptance of Christ a little over a year ago. Since then I have noticed an amazing improvement in my ability to express my emotions in a more sensible manner. I still struggle everyday with my anger issue and will probably continue to struggle with it for the rest of my life.

There is a common saying that, “Time heals all wounds.” However I don’t believe that is true. Here is a more true saying “Christ heals all wounds.” This is a realization that I have come to over the last year or so; that Christ wants my heart to be healed, and He will heal it if I entrust Him with it. I’ve also realized that God brought me through all the troubles of my life and childhood so that I would place my trust and faith in Him. I have endured hardship and struggle so that I would trust in His wisdom rather than that of men, so that I would glorify Him over everything.

After reading an article in my local newspaper(Grand Island Independent) yesterday, it got me thinking about our society and the trends arising from evolution being taught in public schools. The article had nothing to do with evolution or schools, it was about a couple of young adults who were being charged with child abuse in the death of their 7 week old infant. Now granted on the surface this has nothing to do with evolution. If we dig a little deeper however we see underlying issues that are on the rise in our society. One of these issues is the rise in child abuse and infanticide. The writer of the article interviewed Diann Muhlbach, the coordinator of the Coalition for Children and secretary of the Association of Child Abuse Prevention in Grand Island who was quoted as saying, “Our biggest challenge is getting people to understand a child is a valuable human being. If you have something that’s valuable to you, you take care of it. A child is a precious gift.”

I see a big problem when a child advocate says that their biggest challenge is convincing parents their children are a valuable human being. This is a direct result of what evolution teaches our young people in public schools. They teach them that we are nothing but another animal, a highly evolved animal and that we don’t have to answer to anyone but ourselves. With this kind of attitude about life it’s no wonder our young adults have no value for life or their own children. We also see the trend of abortion increasing steadily, which is another result of evolutionary theory.

Muhlbach was also quoted as saying, “We need to look at how we value children. How do we get people to look at children as valuable?” I would have to agree, society needs to look at how we look at our children. I also have an answer for her second question. How do we get people to look at children as valuable? All People need to look at children as God sees them. God values each and every life that He creates, and forms each and every being by His own hand with lovingkindness. If society looked at human life as God does then society would have a wholly different attitude.

Update (3-4-2008)

This is a forum where I state/express my views and my perceptions. This is not an open forum to debate these views or perceptions. If I wanted to debate my views on creation or evolution I would go to one of those such forums. I recently had to delete several comments due to this reason. Those people who want to discuss my views or my perceptions can either do it in a positive encouraging way or go somewhere else to do this as I will not post any comments with the intent of bashing, berating, or malice. If those people do not like my views or the fact that I will moderate every comment that gets posted publicly they do not have to come here and read my views or look at my blog.

So far all of my posts have been pretty positive, or about what we should be as Christians. However I think it’s time for a reality check. Every Christian, now matter how long they have been walking with Christ, struggles with something on a daily basis. This is just the nature of being human in a fallen state. Now granted we do have the Holy Spirit to guide us, but we don’t always listen to what the Holy Spirit tells us.

Proverbs 20:9 – Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”?

Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

I know that I have trouble with my heart everyday. We have to try to be like David, who was a man after God’s own heart. Even David sinned. I think that’s why he wrote this prayer in the Psalms:

Psalm 51:10 – Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Another thing I struggle with on a daily basis is my anger. I have always had a short temper, for as long as I can remember. Maybe this is because I grew up with so much anger and violence in my family. Maybe it’s just my heart. I don’t know exactly what causes me to anger so easily. It has been easier since I came to Christ, but I still find myself getting angry for little cause at times. This is especially hard and dangerous when you have kids. Children have a tendency to bring out the worst and the best in us. A child can provoke even the most patient man to anger. So much more for us who are easily angered. I have to be extremely careful not to lose my temper around my children, which at times can be extremely difficult. I have to be extremely careful not to end up like my father, who throughout my childhood always seemed angry, and lost his temper at the drop of a hat. I don’t want my children to grow up feeling the way that I felt.

I struggle everyday with reading my bible. Sometimes I let the things of the world distract me from what is really important, God’s Word. This is part of the reason I started this blog. To help keep me focused on what is important. To help me store up treasures in heaven and not on earth.

I struggle with intercessory prayer sometimes. It’s easy to pray for myself. We are all selfish in nature, and it’s easy to pray for ourselves. To pray for others can be difficult unless we are consciously aware of it. One thing I try to do when I pray is to make my prayers for myself the last thing I pray for if at all.

Spending quiet time with God is another thing I have trouble with. We live in such a fast paced world with so much stimulation. It can be hard to just stop everything, all the distractions and to listen for His Word in my heart, to rest in Him.

I struggle with helping my wife around the house sometimes. I have to consciously make myself help her with the housework sometimes. I know my wife appreciates it when I do help her out, especially here lately with her being pregnant and her chronic pain flaring up worse than it has before. This has kind of forced me to help with our son more on my days off as well. This can be hard to do especially after a long night at work.

These are some of the things that I struggle with on a daily basis. I can come up with more, however these are the most common, and hardest things to deal with for me. What do you struggle with in your walk with Christ?

I woke up this afternoon(I work nights), and my wife tells me that she turned around in her chair this afternoon and this is what she saw.

He was apparently walking around on the table picking up papers and just hanging out. Now I need to go out and buy a safety harness so he doesn’t crack his skull open…just kidding. What a little stinker.

Inspired by a post on a fellow Christian’s blog(Joy@the pure interest) about the things that bring us Joy in our everyday life; I decided to snap a few pictures today and throw them up here along with some personal thoughts on what and why they give me Joy in everyday life.

Here goes:

My favorite book in all the world. His Word. It seems that everyday I open it’s pages I find something to encourage me, I learn something new about God, and gain a better understanding of Him and His plan for my life.

It seems every time that I get the camera out to take a picture of anything, my son feels the need to show off. This is him being…well his cute little self.

This is what I was originally trying to get when I took the camera out, however it took a dozen pictures and some coercion to get it. He is truly a blessing from God, and possibly the real reason why I am not another of the lost sheep still wandering in the darkness.

My beloved wife blogging away. She really didn’t want her picture taken here, however I needed a current photo for the day for this post. I know she will understand the use on this page as it is out of love. She brings me joy everyday we are together. I thank the Lord for everyday that I have to spend with her.

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The following pictures weren’t taken today, however they did give me great joy when I took them this last week or two.

Here my son is taking immense joy in the entertaining uses of the diaper box. This is something I find amazing, especially considering he’s entertained himself with it for the last 2 weeks. He enjoys just hanging out in it watching his cartoons, or placing a number of toys in it and proceeding to kick it around the house. Hours and hours of fun in a simple box. I wish I could have so much fun with something as simple…ah the days of childhood.

More entertainment from a box. This one isn’t good enough for just his train and accessories. He almost looks as if I’m going to scold him for sitting in the container. Purely adorable though.

In the lap of luxury. A rare occasion in our house to have a plate full of food and sit in the living room watching tv. We were all sick this week and we decided to let a few things slide. He was very well behaved that morning despite the way he was feeling.

Over the last couple of weeks it seems that the illnesses have just piled on in the family. I have been suffering from a nasty cold(which normally isn’t a big deal). However last week I had to get wet at work in 40 degree weather, which I don’t think has helped my illness at all. My wife and I just went to the doctor yesterday and I found out not only do I have a cold but I have the flu, which caused me to get an ear infection and strep throat. Now I’m out of work for at least a week(which is very hard to deal with). I have felt so helpless the last week, my faith is about the only thing that has kept me going.My wife hasn’t felt very good the last few weeks either. For the last 8 years or so she has dealt with chronic pain. All the doctors, family, even friends have just told her to “suck it up” or “just deal with it”. Over the last few weeks her chronic pain has escalated to the point where she hasn’t been able to function at all. She’s spent at least 3 days in bed miserable. Most of the time she is in a fog. Finally she couldn’t take it anymore and we decided that we’d go get a full lab done to find out what is wrong. What makes it harder though is she is 15 weeks pregnant and is severely limited by what medications she can take to manage her pain.

This has been doubly stressful for me, being sick and weak and trying to take care of our toddler. I feel so helpless a lot of the time about my wife’s chronic pain. The only thing I know that I can do is to be there by her side through whatever happens, and to fervently pray for her. I have been praying several times a day for guidance or peace in our time of adversity. I know God will guide us through this but waiting is so hard.

Over the last year, as my priorities and lifestyle have changed, I’ve begun to compile a list of qualities that I have striven for, and continue to strive for in myself as a Christian father and husband. This list is by no means complete, nor does it encompass all of the traits or qualities we should have as Christians. These are qualities that God has required or expects of us through His Word. The Bible has been and continues to be my primary inspiration, and reference in my walk with Christ and my journey as a father.

• The love of God above all things. (Deuteronomy 6:5 – Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Mark 12:30 – Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’) The love and worship of God is the most important trait of any Christian. We cannot be in communion with God until we give him the priority that He deserves in our lives. His will and the communication of His will to us is also hinged upon this important quality.
• The love of others. (Mark 12:31 – The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”) The bible tells us that only second to loving God is the love of our neighbor, or loving all others. This is the perfect example that Christ set before us. He showed love in everything He did, and in all of the things He said. He also went a step further and told us to love our enemies. (Matthew 5:43-45 – “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Luke 6:27-36 – “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ’sinners’ lend to ’sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.)
• Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit. This is more of a sub-category of traits falling under the list of qualities given by Paul in (Galatians 5:22-23 – But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.)
• Responsibility. A mature Christian husband and father takes responsibility for his own actions and the actions of his immediate family. We see the opposite of this in Genesis 3, in verses 11-13 we see Adam blaming Eve for giving him the forbidden fruit, and then Eve blames the serpent for deceiving her. Neither of them takes responsibility for their actions. This is the opposite of how God wants us to be. (Genesis 3:11-13 – And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”) Our first step towards responsibility as Christians is our acknowledgment of our sinful nature and our need for a savior.
• The desire to train his children in the “admonition of the Lord”. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7 – These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Proverbs 22:6 – Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Ephesians 6:4(NKJV) – And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.) Our children are not our own, they are simply on loan to us from God. He wants us to train them, and instruct them in His word. He wants us to show them His love through our own actions. We are to guide them as a light guides a traveler on a dark night.
• Self-control, and self-restraint. (1 Timothy 3:2 – Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,) This particular passage is targeted mainly towards church leaders, deacons and pastors, however these are traits that every Christian man should aspire to whether he is in church leadership or not. This passage tells us that we as Christian men are to be temperate or self-restrained, and self-controlled. We are expected to keep our cool, and to keep a level head. The book of Proverbs tells us that a wise man turns away anger, and keeps himself under control.(Proverbs 29:8 – Mockers stir up a city, but wise men turn away anger. Proverbs 29:11 – A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.) It also tells us not to be friends with or even associate with one who is easily angered. (Proverbs 22:24 – Do not make friends with a hot-tempered man, do not associate with one easily angered,) This is one of my struggling points, as I’m sure it is with many Christian men. Having been raised outside of any Christian influence, I learned the ways of the world. Which are fast becoming fraught with anger, hatred and violence. Now that I am walking in the light, I have to relearn all that I’ve known in dealing with my anger and frustration. I struggle with this on a daily basis. There is a great passage that I have learned to help me deal with my anger, it has also helped me to remove the swear/curse words from my vocabulary, which I used all too often before I was saved. (Psalm 19:14 – May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.)
• Not an alcoholic. (1 timothy 3:3 – not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 1 timothy 3:8 – Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain.) Once again we see two more verses aimed at deacons and pastors from 1 timothy and again I say that these are admirable qualities that all Christian men should aspire to. I have learned from first hand experience and from family/genetics that alcohol is a detriment to society as a whole and is a major cause of many of society’s problems today. If there is ever any doubt as to why we should not drink alcohol(at least to indulgence) we should look at the following verse (Proverbs 23:29-35 – Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?”) I personally have decided that I don’t want or need alcohol or its influence in my household. We as a family do not drink any alcoholic beverages and hope this will set the standard for our children to follow in their adult lives as well.
• A spiritual leader. Starting with Adam in the garden of Eden, God gave Adam specific commands in leadership as well as a job and responsibility before He formed Eve from Adam’s rib. (Genesis 2:15 – The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.) This is an indication that God has destined the Christian man to be the spiritual leader of his family. Now this does not mean the woman has any less value or worth. In fact women are equally valuable in God’s sight, there is a clear distinction between the roles. The woman being the helper and man being the leader. (Genesis 2:20b – … But for Adam no suitable helper was found.) One way of looking at this is the chain of command in a military unit. The leader is not worth more than his subordinate. However he has the added responsibility and accountability given to him by a higher power. This is the way that God has willed it in His word and I think this is the way we should model it in our families if we are to honor His word, and His will. (Genesis 2:16-17 – And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”) This command to Adam comes before he created Eve. In it is an expectation that Adam will take God’s message to his wife and his future children. It is our God given responsibility as men to guide our families in the way in which God wants us to go. This means ensuring that everyone spends time in God’s Word, spends time with God alone. We are also responsible for their spiritual education or lack of it as well. A growing problem I see among the church is the expectation that the public schools will give our children the well rounded education that they need. This is a horrible fallacy in which we cannot afford to sacrifice our children to. I think it is painfully clear by the statistics of public education that these institutions are grossly inadequate in what they do. At the same time they are indoctrinating our children into Secular Humanism at an astounding pace. (The Humanist Curriculum, Patriots to Socialism) However despite my bias against public schools, every parent should do solid research about who is educating their children, and what are they teaching them.
• Not Prideful. Pride is one of the biggest enemies of mankind and of God. Pride is what caused the fall of Satan. (Isaiah 14:12-14 – How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”, Ezekiel 28:12-18 – “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: ” ‘You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. By your many sins and dishonest trade you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So I made a fire come out from you, and it consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground in the sight of all who were watching.) When we take selfish pride in anything, we are opening ourselves to this trap. This is the same trap that Adam and Eve fell for. Self-less pride on the other hand can be a good thing. I am and always will be very proud of my wife and children, not because of anything that I have done, but because of the great blessing they are to me from God. Now this self-less pride could easily become a selfish pride due to the nature of the human heart, so we must always be on our guard against this trap.

I’m sure there are more that I could add to this list, however I cannot think of anymore currently. However if you think of a quality that you think should be on this list by all means leave a comment with your thoughts. If you do however please leave at least one biblical passage to support your thoughts.