The worst kind of pride

(Newman Hall, "Leaves of Healing
 from the Garden of Grief" 1891)

"But to keep me from getting puffed up, I was given
 a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment
 me and keep me from getting proud." 2 Corinth. 12:7

The thorn in the flesh saved Paul from pride in the spirit.

How exposed are the most useful Christians to this
temptation! To be proud of . . .
  our beauty,
  our strength,
  our riches,
  our station,
  our power,
  our learning and genius
--this is absurd, for what do we have,
which we have not received from God?

But to be proud of . . .
  our piety,
  our spiritual experience,
  our prayerfulness,
  our zeal,
  our usefulness--this is . . .
the worst kind of pride,
most offensive to God,
most injurious to our own soul,
most obstructive to usefulness.

If so, how beneficent the thorn, in whatever
shape, that checks such self-destructive abuse
of heavenly gifts!

"But to keep me from getting puffed up, I was given
 a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment
 me and keep me from getting proud." 2 Corinth. 12:7