No ground for pride—not even spiritual grounds

What I mean will be clear like this: there are some who exalt themselves because they are sons of governors and because they are of a family from great worldly ranks. Such people, exalting themselves over an involuntary and indifferent matter, do not even have a plausible likelihood that what is set beside them for exaltation is reasonable. There are those who exalt themselves because they have authority to kill human beings, and who exalt themselves because they have received what among them is called such a promotion that they cut off human heads. 'The glory' of such people 'is in their shame.' Others exalt themselves over wealth—not the true wealth but the one below; and others exalt themselves, say, over having a fine house or many fields. None of these is worthy of account; one must not exalt oneself over any of these.

But the plausible case about exaltation is when someone exalts himself because he is wise, and exalts himself knowing in himself that already for ten years he has not touched sexual things, or even from childhood has not touched them; and again another exalts himself because he wore bonds concerning Christ. There is a semblance here that suggests that someone reasonably exalts himself—yet even over these, as toward the true account, no one reasonably exalts himself. So there is no reasonable exaltation even over these.

Paul had the material for exaltation through visions, through sights, through wonders and signs, through the toils he toiled for Christ, through the churches he planted, ambitious where Christ was not named to found a church. All these were material for him, if one must speak with the semblance about exaltation, that to some it would have seemed fine for him to exalt himself. But still, since even exaltation over such things is not without danger, the kind Father, as he granted him visions and sights, so also gave him in the portion of a gift 'an angel of Satan to buffet him, that he may not be exalted beyond measure.' And about this he begged the Lord three times that the angel of Satan depart from him—the one given him that he may not exalt himself. And the Lord answered him (for Paul was worthy of the Lord's answer) and said to him: 'My grace is enough for you; for my power is perfected in weakness.'

So one must exalt oneself over nothing; for falling follows exaltation according to 'Before crushing a man's heart is exalted, and before glory it is humbled.' So much for 'Hear and give ear, and do not exalt yourselves, for the Lord has spoken.'