What is purposefulness based on? In order to achieve something in life, you need to be able to set goals and persevere towards them, despite all the difficulties that are encountered along the way. In a sense, vanity is a good quality to succeed in life, because such a person always needs proof that he is better than others. But why, then, does religion oppose this character trait? First off, what is vanity?
The meaning of the word and its difference from ambition and pride
According to the explanatory dictionary, this quality reflects the human need to strive for fame and success and the thirst for recognition and a beautiful life. As can be seen by definition, it is characteristic of all people, only to a different extent. The meaning of the word "vanity" suggests the light and dark sides of this human quality. On the one hand, it can make a person get up from the couch and start doing something actively. Buton the other hand, vain people often try more to seem than to be. This happens in two cases: if they managed to achieve something in life or, on the contrary, they are not lucky in anything. In this case, they come up with an excuse for themselves and look down on everyone, believing in their own superiority. Vanity is a quality that is often accompanied by ambition and pride. Ambition implies the desire to be better than others, and pride makes a person consider himself better than others, regardless of the real state of affairs. As you can see, any person needs such qualities in the optimal amount.
Is vanity one of the deadly sins?
As we figured out, this quality has many positive aspects, however, why does Christianity advocate the eradication of such traits in character? To be more precise, even two mortal sins fit the definition of vanity: pride, which makes you despise others and ex alt yourself, and greed, i.e. love for a beautiful life. Vanity is a character trait that must be constantly under control, because the line between its positive and negative influence is very thin. If helping people you expect praise, and more and more offended by criticism, then be careful not to let this trait of your character cloud your mind.
Basic forms of vanity
Psychologists identify two forms of manifestation of this trait in the human character. Intellectual vanity is self-confidencea person in his own knowledge, which sometimes reaches the point of absurdity. He simply cannot admit that he is wrong and loves to say for any reason: “I knew it!”. There is also spiritual vanity, which is often inherent in people who have decided for themselves to take the path of spiritual development. They may begin to feel that only they know the right path to enlightenment. It cannot even enter their heads that, perhaps, they themselves are not going the right way, but have long been stuck somewhere else in its beginning. In addition, the moralizing of such "pseudo-righteous" can discourage any normal person from trying to become better with the help of religion.
