What is purposefulness based on? In order to achieve something in life, you need to be able to set goals and stubbornly follow them, despite all the difficulties that meet along the way. In a sense, vanity is a good quality in order 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? And for starters, what is vanity?
The meaning of the word and its difference from ambition and pride
According to the explanatory dictionary, this quality reflects a person’s need to strive for fame and success and a thirst for recognition and a beautiful life. As you can see by definition, it is common to all people, but only to a different extent. The meaning of the word “vanity” presupposes the light and dark side of this
human quality. On the one hand, it can make a person get up from the couch and start actively doing something. But on the other hand, conceited people often try to seem more than to be. This happens in two cases: if they managed to achieve something in life or, on the contrary, are unlucky in anything. In this case, they come up with an excuse and look down on everyone, believing in their own unsurpassed. Vanity is a quality that is often accompanied by ambition and pride. Ambition implies a desire to be better than others, and pride makes a person consider himself better than others, regardless of the real situation. As you can see, in the optimal amount such qualities are needed by any person.
Is vanity one of mortal 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 others despise and exalt oneself, and love of money, i.e. love for a beautiful life. Vanity is a
character trait that must be constantly monitored, because the line between its positive and negative influence is very thin. If helping people, you expect praise, and more and more often get offended by criticism, then be careful and do not let this line of your character blur your mind.
The main forms of vanity
Psychologists distinguish two forms of manifestation of this trait in the human character. Intellectual vanity is a person’s self-confidence 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 that!" There is also spiritual vanity, which is often inherent in people who decide for themselves to take the path of spiritual development. They may begin to think that only they know the right path to enlightenment. It cannot even occur to them that, perhaps, they themselves are not following the right path, but have long been stuck somewhere else at its beginning. Moreover, the moral teachings of such “pseudo-righteous” can discourage the attempt to improve with the help of religion in any normal person.