Before you read this post, here's a quick heads-up - This post makes sense only for the believers who chose to follow Christ despite knowing they might have to endure sufferings for the sake of Christ in this world.
Ok, now let's jump into the topic.
In this post, we'll see what's that trap, and how we can avoid falling into that trap!
Though a set of believers have accepted hardships (for the sake of following Christ) as a part of their life in this world, they may still fall into the trap of pride.
Yes, it's the trap of pride in the sense - I made a wise choice by choosing Christ over my worldly well-being, while the world is ignorantly seeking things that cannot get Eternal life for their souls.
It's a pride that makes a true follower of Christ to look down upon a carnal-minded believer or non-believer.
Seems a bit confusing? You can hopefully get a better clarity by reading further!
Before I truly started following Christ, I used to draw inspiration even from movie characters (despite knowing they aren't real). But I found only a temporary satisfaction and emptiness in all such fake, worldly inspirations. Then, God helped me to experience the fulfillment of the true love of Christ in my heart by His grace.
But until a few days ago, the inner side of me used to laugh at people who are obsessed about the temporary things of this world such as career success, financial freedom, celebrities etc.
In fact, I've laughed many times mockingly at heart whenever I come across people sharing their worldly accomplishments (which I know at the bottom of my heart is temporary and it can't earn them Eternal life) as a motivation for others.
While its not wrong to encourage others to succeed in worldly life, I used to laugh at the immense weightage people give to such material things, and forget about what lies ahead for their soul after their death.
In simple words, I was super-proud about the fact that I'm aware of the truth, and that I've made the right choice to truly follow Christ (in order to receive His gift of salvation), while most people in the world care too little (or doesn't even care) about the destiny of their soul (which starts once a person dies).
But I've forgotten the fact that God didn't look at me mockingly when I was ignorantly seeking the worldly things. In fact, He was compassionate and gracious to me, in order to help me understand the truth.
Then I realized that I'm saved by grace through faith and not by works (Ephesians 2:8,9). Hence, I cannot boast or carry that pride and look down upon people who didn't understand or accept the truth of eternal salvation through Christ.
Therefore, God helped me to understand that I must stop being proud about it, and instead, be even more humble, so I can emit the light of Christ to the people who are seeking after worldly success, ultimately to help them to accept the reality that Eternity for their soul is far more important, and it's available freely for them right now through the work of Christ.