Pride goes before a fall...

"The king said, ‘Who is in the court?’ Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the palace to speak to the king about impaling Mordecai on the pole he had set up for him.

His attendants answered, ‘Haman is standing in the court.’

‘Bring him in,’ the king ordered.

When Haman entered, the king asked him, ‘What should be done for the man the king delights to honour?’

Now Haman thought to himself, ‘Who is there that the king would rather honour than me?’ "  Esther 6:4 - 6

So... the king has been awake for hours and now wants to take action to reward Mordecai, but Haman knows nothing of this. (Had Haman also been awake for hours, stewing over Mordecai and anxious to get rid of him? Was Haman at the palace unusually early?)

And so Haman assumes the king means him. Pride has once again claimed a victory, as it does every time we think too much of ourselves. When I feel slighted or overlooked, it is one-nil to Pride. When I feel jealous of another's achievements, it is because I think too highly of myself. When I assume I should be respected or appreciated...pride is ruling my thoughts and emotions.

It is the ugliest of sins. 

Pride pushes the idea of myself forward, shouting, "Look at me! Look at ME!" 

Pride drives me to selfish ambition.

Pride refuses to let me react humbly.

Pride stops me from serving.

Ugly.

Proverbs 16:18 reminds: 

"Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall; Too much pride will destroy you; First pride, then the crash—the bigger the ego, the harder the fall." (NIV, CEV, The Message)

"Pride is evil in all its forms. It is self-serving and believes that it is self-sufficient. Pride relies on its own wisdom and tends to chose which parts of the Bible it wants to obey. Pride ultimately pushes God aside thinking it knows better and for this reason it will be brought down. Pride requires justice and will be destroyed either through repentance or through ruin.
We should fear pride in our lives and work at rooting it out because it will end in our dishonour whereas humility will end in honour." (Love God Greatly reading plan notes)

Words to live by from Philippians 2:3: "Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand."  or "Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble thinking of others as better than yourselves."