I know you’ve been there before. The moment that came where you honestly cannot remember what happened or why you reacted the way you did. One minute you were calm and the next minute you flew off the handle. You became Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Your temper flared and you flew into a rage. You became angry and full of wrath.

Throughout the history of the church, when someone has discussed the seven deadly sins, they’ve recognized that one particular sin lays at the foundation of all other sins. That sin is pride.

The great 20th century apologist, C. S. Lewis, said this about pride: “the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”

Recently, I’ve been heartbroken over the sin and brokenness in our world. Often we see this kind of sin committed from afar, but over the past week or so, it has been in my back yard. I’ve seen several men confess and repent of secret sin and another take his own life because the weight of his sin felt too immense to confess. I’m not naive to know that throughout our world sin is rampant and seemingly growing even more evil. It’s just that this week, sin hit a little closer to home and broke me.