I’m listening to “Mere Christianity” online. Goodness Mr. Lewis was insightful. My question is about pride. Mr. Lewis believes that the best way to find out how prideful you are is to examine how much outrage you feel when you witness someone else acting prideful. Isn’t it natural to be annoyed by people who think so highly of themselves? If it is a friend or family member, shouldn’t we point it out to them? Where is the line between pointing out a flaw and stroking your own ego?
C. S. Lewis was making the observation that we’re often the least tolerant of people whose short comings are similar to ours. This is because we’re subconsciously frustrated with our inability to overcome our own faults and have little or no patience for those who also exhibit them. Watching our own reaction to others is a good way to check ourselves.
Jesus said the best time to point out the speck in someone else’s eye is after we’ve taken the plank out of our own (Matt. 7:5). In other words, after we’ve gotten rid of our own sins.