Only with humility do we receive gifts. If we are full of pride, there is no room for them. Gifts bounce off. It is like oil. It is unction. It doesn’t go with the Living Waters. On the other hand, humility attracts goodness. God resists the proud.

As a result, there are many times we don’t see nor receive what God has in store for us. Call them “unclaimed blessings.” We’re confused. We “feel” that we deserve something — yet, it doesn’t arrive. We’re frustrated or worse.

When stymied, the first reaction should be to look inwardly and ask the Holy Spirit in deep prayer not only if our request is God’s Will but also to illuminate those hidden corners where pride grows like a fungus. If we have hidden pride, it is a block.

Why can’t I break through to a relationship? Why can’t I break through to holiness? Why am I not successful?

The removal of pride often results in the solution to a problem.

We can then “claim” our blessings.

There are often many of them!

In His design for your life, God has ordained both challenges and delights — times of struggle, yes; tests; but also plenty of times — maybe more than any struggles — in which everything seems to flow in the right direction.

Pride is the great stumbling block. It alters the correct direction — diverts us. It’s a dam that changes the course of a river — or simply holds the Living Waters back. It is a ‘log” in our spirits (or a bunch of them). It degrades the blessings.

We find ourselves trying to walk — tipsy — across a logjam.

To shed pride is often to shed your “false self.”

Question: What is your false self?

Answer: It is the role you play on earth. It is your duty. It is your “accomplishments.” It is your education. It is everything, in short, that you may be “proud” of. During life, we don “layers.” We may put on one layer for where we work, another for our social lives, another for the company of certain relatives or friends; also masks. Life is often like a play. Think about the roles into which you are cast. Don’t worry about what is wrongfully thought of you by others. Never immerse yourself in the cycle of their thoughts. It can taint your spirit — lead you on the wrong course.

In purgatory, falsity is burned away.

Our role is to praise God. We must purify before entering purity.

That’s not to say there isn’t good in the things that define us on earth — there can be very much good! It is to say that we often view ourselves solely through the lens of the world — of others — instead of how God will see us when we are in an eternal place where worldly accomplishments (especially if done for selfish reasons) are valueless (and, again, darken the spirit). Pride and lack of love hold us back more than anything from the joy of direct entry into Heaven!

Seek that direct entry.

You can do it.

Your life is a role on stage and you will see it all replayed in your life review.

So treat each and every action in life as if you will see it again (for you will).

As someone said recently, forsake engaging in disputes; what someone does to you is between them and God, and the way you respond is also between you and Him. Do not concern yourself with being right or wrong in a debate (which most often are meaningless). Concern yourself with being good.

Let the Lord take care of the rest.

Consider everyone equal. 

If you’re a millionaire or a doctor or a writer or a senator and were suddenly to lose all that, you should not feel any differently about your self. For your real “self” should be in the designs of the Father which never change and which greet us in purity upon entrance into purgatory or Heaven.

[resources: Humility]