Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18
The Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie has a character I love to hate. Her name is Veruca Salt. Veruca is an overindulged, selfish, bratty girl who has been spoiled relentlessly by her parents. When Veruca doesn’t get what she wants, she immediately throws nasty tantrums. Because of her ridiculous behavior, Veruca’s exciting excursion through the Wonka Factory ended abruptly when she was sent tumbling into the garbage chute after appropriately being judged a “bad nut” by the squirrels.
Veruca has been known to appear at our house on occasion masquerading as one of my children. When she visits in her selfish attire, I sometimes jump up and down mimicking her and repeating some of her favorite phrases. Things like: “I want – I want – get me one right now! I want the world, I don’t care how, I want it now!”
The gimmick (tactic) often proved effective at revealing the selfish attitude and brought about a transition to humility without too much embarrassment. I have found that with my family, a little giggle often helps bring the obvious into view and we avoid the need for James Bond to appear and remedy the selfish World Is Not Enough mentality himself.
We are all fallen individuals energized by our own greed, lust, and covetousness. We expect things in life to go our way and we are constantly fueled by the desire to be out in front of others. However, unless you want to be rated as a bad nut, you had better throw out your trashy behavior and pride. We can make it through nearly every difficulty or delay we encounter if we practice humility.
Consider what has you stomping your feet and plunging your lower lip out in a gang-plank of frustration, and then initiate a better approach. No one wants to experience the smelly chute and find themselves sitting in a pile of garbage. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. James 4:10
Don’t let who you are keep you from being the person you are meant to be.
Blessings,
