Stick to the PlanSample

Last Stand

“For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3)

To be self-centered is unfortunately to be human. But the matter is worsened when our egos cause problems not only for ourselves but for others.

A perfect example of this is General George Armstrong Custer. Some would say that he was a great army hero in the western expansion of the United States. The true facts of his life would put that into question, however.

He finished last in his class at West Point in 1861, and in 1867 he was court-martialed and kicked out of the service for a year. He was allowed to return only because the army needed help fighting the Native Americans.

Custer’s Last Stand wasn’t heroism, it was an out-of-control ego. He was supposed to be part of a major attack on the Native Americans and was told to hold his position until other troops arrived. Instead, he led his 266 men into battle, where they were all slaughtered.

Some of the early narratives about Custer came from the man himself; because of his celebrity as a Civil War hero, Custer ghost-wrote newspaper dispatches in which he pretended to be a correspondent and inflated his own role in battles and military exploits..

In scripture, it says that pride is a sign of foolishness, and leads to destruction. However, wisdom is found in those who are humble and teachable.

Proverbs 16: 18-19 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling. It is better to be humble in spirit with the needy than to divide the spoils with the proud.