This week on Geek Devotions, Dallas and Celeste take a look at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze and talk about Raphael’s biggest issue, Pride. Pride is a dangerous thing and cause more issues than you may think.

In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze, Raphael finds himself frustrated because he wants to go out and find the Foot Clan, but he’s under orders from Master Splinter to do something else. Raph’s enteral conflict comes out with an argument between him and Leonardo. Raph’s pride says he should be out hunting, not looking for a new place to live. His pride wins out against his Master’s instructions and goes out to find the Foot Clan. The end result is that He’s captured and used as bait to capture the rest of the turtles.

Raph’s pride caused two issues

  1. He was put in a dangerous position. The enemy caught him and sought to destroy him.
  2. Not only did his pride affect him, but the enemy used it to hurt those closest to him too.

This reminded Dallas of a passage found in Proverbs…

One’s pride will bring him low,
    but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.
Proverbs 29:23

In this verse, the writer is simply stating the fact that one’s pride will bring them low. Just like what happened to Raphael. He went from warrior ninja… to captured victim. This is a state the enemy wants to put every one of us. As followers of Jesus we are humble warriors in the Kingdom of God, but when we allow pride to come in we become capture victims.

Conversely, if we are lowly we will be honored. Our Father in Heaven will ensure a path of success for us if we humble ourselves. We see this played out in the movie in this exact same scene. Yes, the 3 remaining brothers walk into the trap set by the Shredder. The difference between them and Raph though is that they went to their father, Master Splinter, and asked him for help. In this scene, he shows up and helps them in their time of need and helps them rescue their captured brother.

Don’t let the enemy use your pride to take you from “Humble Warrior” to a “Captured Victim.” Be like the other turtle brothers (Michelangelo, Donatello, and Leonardo) and ask for help. Seek help from those in authority and spiritual maturity and allow them to help you.