Is Self-Pity Pride?

Last Sunday evening, while we were discussing the sermon, I mentioned a quote from John Piper that has been painfully helpful in my own life. In his book, Desiring God, he points out how pride is not just a problem the boastful have.

Boasting is the response of pride to success. Self-pity is the response of pride to suffering. Boasting says, ‘I deserve admiration because I have achieved so much.’ Self-pity says, ‘I deserve admiration because I have sacrificed so much.’ Boasting is the voice of pride in the heart of the strong. Self-pity is the voice of pride in the heart of the weak. … The need self-pity feels does not come from a sense of unworthiness, but from a sense of unrecognized worthiness (Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, pg. 302).

This line of thinking is uncomfortable. When I am in the midst of pitying myself, I don't feel like I am being prideful. However, I am still thinking much of myself. I am just sad others haven't recognized my greatness along with me. Oh, how sinister and deceptive pride is.  But thanks be to God that he is transforming us into the image of his humble Son. Let's keep asking him to reveal our pride and to help us see Jesus more clearly in his Word so that we might be more like him.