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The most devastating sin to the soul is PRIDE and St. Paul warns us about false humility. Is it the same thing as pride?

Humility is the basis for all other virtues. A person who is humble believes that he is nothing without the Lord Jesus Christ. He feels that whatever he has is from God. Humility is the life one leads between himself and the Lord.

St. John Climacos (El-Daragy) said, "it is not he who insults or blames himself that is the humble person, because who cannot bear himself? But the truly humble person is he who stands the blames and insults of others without diminishing his love for them." He further described humility as, "about, humility, some said it is forgetting every good deed a person did, and another said it is the person counting himself the greatest failure, the least and more sinful than other people. Another said it is the mind knowing its weakness. It is also crushing one's soul and refusing one's will. I say; humility is grace within the soul, which no one knows abides in the soul but he who possesses it." The Lord said, "Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart"(Matthew 11:29). That is, not by an angel, or a human, and not from a book do you learn humility of the heart, but from the Lord Jesus Christ, and He continued "and you will find rest for your souls."

Many early church fathers believed humility to be "the Tree of Life, whoever eats from it never dies." Humility is also like the root of the ordinary tree, which cannot live, grow, bear fruit and preserve in strength unless its roots spread and penetrate deeply into the soil.

Pride is realized when one begins to blaspheme, speak too much about himself, relates good deeds that he has done to others, or feels as though he is counted among the saints. The greatest of all sins and perhaps the most dangerous is "Pride." Origen in his book, "The Principles," states, "One might ask which sin is the greatest. Without a doubt, it is the one, which caused the downfall of the devil. And what is this sin, which echoes such greatness? Pride, arrogance, and exaltation. It is the devil's sin. Because of it he fell from heaven to earth as 'God resists the proud'" (James 4:6).

Pride is not a single sin, such as stealing or lying. It is the mother of sins, which gives birth to sons for the devil. The mother's children are anger, rivalry, condemnation, shouting, arguing, blasphemy, and the convincing of one's self-worth by his own opinion. Humility not pride is necessary for the preservation of faith. St Paul said, "In the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, and unholy" (II Timothy 3:1-2).
"If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all" (Mark 9:35). This is how the Lord Jesus Himself lived His Holy Life.

St James said, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (4:6). This verse clearly shows the extent of God's hate of  the proud and love for the humble. It is not sufficient that He shows His hate of  their sin (pride), but also declares His resistance. The Divine Grace departs from the proud thus allowing  him to fall into the worst of sins.
Having examined "humility" and "pride" let's relate this to the reference made to "false humility." In the Holy Book of Colossians 2:18, St. Paul states, "Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in FALSE HUMILITY and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind." False humility here is referring to "feeding the flesh, when you think you are denying it." St. Paul is cautioning the Colossian Church to beware of deception, PRIDE, schism, created realities, and human traditions. False humility is condemned as pride. St Paul is addressing false theology and false spirituality in this chapter.
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