True Pride is True Humility

 “Pain will teach you a lesson, pride won’t let you learn.”

~Author Unknown

Scripture:

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

~Proverbs 11:2

Perspective:

When most of us think of pride, a few different things come to mind.  In the dictionary, pride is defined as a feeling of pleasure or satisfaction with one’s own achievements, which can and often does extend to our children and their accomplishments.  It can also be arrogance, or hubris, an exaggerated sense of one’s importance or abilities.  In the Bible, it is referred to as it is a reliance on and trust in oneself rather than in God, the inability to admit our weaknesses but rather to exalt our self. It is a sin that disgusts God.  Pride can occur in our mind or be shown through our actions.  Some examples are pursuing compliments, denying one’s own weaknesses, or even contemplating an excessively critical view of ourselves.  It can present in obvious ways or be quite sneaky.  All human conflict is rooted in pride.  The results of pride are found in lack of love and unconcern toward others; thoughtless and critical judgements; all aspects of one’s anger, moodiness, impatience, resentment, and unforgiveness.  Pride can present itself as fear, entitlement, lack of gratitude, people-pleasing, hypocrisy, prayerlessness, rebellion toward authority, and putting anything or anyone above God.  If you read God’s Word and alter it to fit into your life as opposed to altering your life to fit into God’s Word, that is pride.

Adam and Eve were the first to struggle with pride, when they thought they could be like God and eat from the one tree in all of Eden which God told them not to; they trusted themselves over God.  Today, we still resist giving up our false sense of control and simply leaning on and trusting God in our lives and circumstances.  Pride can reveal itself in three ways: self-reliance, self-centeredness, and even through self-condemnation.  God’s most important commandment is to love Him first and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Instead, pride causes us to put false idols above Him and to feel envy toward our neighbor as we compare and compete with them.  Pride is very difficult to correct simply because we are often too proud to admit we might be struggling with it! 

Faith allows us to look away from ourselves, to trust the One who is greater than us, the One who created us, the One who has a plan and purpose for our lives, and the One who can do the impossible.  Worry puts our fear on the throne, faith acknowledges that God is on the throne.  All we do is possible because of God; your last breath and your next breath is because of Him.  Humility, the cure for pride, is defined as a modest or low view of one’s own importance.  This is not to say that you think poorly of yourself, but rather that you realize all you are able to do, all you have, and all you are is because of God, abilities and blessings He has gifted you with, and, can take away from you. 

Once we give our life to Christ, we must die to ourselves, we must let go of our pride and surrender to our all-knowing Creator.  Once we accept Christ as our Savior, we must allow the Holy Spirit into our life, to sanctify and convict us, so we can grow in Christ’s image and bear fruit.  God seeks to change our hearts and we long to do what is right, to follow His Word, in order to please Him, not to be saved.  If you stubbornly believe you are in control, you know best, and you don’t lean on God through whom your weakness is made strong, you are missing out on the most blessed part of being a Christian!  It is through our obedience to Him that we receive His greatest blessings.  We can only be obedient to Him if we know what His will is for our life.  And, we can only know that if we know Him, which is done through time with Him, a relationship with Him.  Christianity is not a religion but rather a relationship. 

So, where do you begin?

• Start your day in prayer and pray throughout the day, even just a quick “thank you,” “God help me,” or just simply say, “Jesus.”  If you have trouble remembering to do so, guess who can help?  Pray for God to light a fire in you for Him!  Don’t give up because your life doesn’t change overnight; change in you and your life is a process and will take time and effort.
• Read the Bible and be obedient to what it says, even if it feels uncomfortable, for that is how you will grow!  Being uncomfortable is yet another opportunity to lean on God.
• When you sin, repent and He will forgive you.  Then, work to not repeat that sin over and over but rather grow from your mistakes, seeking the lessons in them.  Note: Admitting our sins, mistakes, and weaknesses can only happen when we lay pride aside and ask God to reveal where pride is in our way.
• Look for God in every day, whether it is the beauty around you or a circumstance or person He put in your path for a purpose.  Pride will prevent you from being convicted from God or learning throughout your day.  Ask God to open your mind, your heart, your eyes, and your ears each day.
• He gives you what you need for today, so tomorrow you must recommit to put Him first and to seek His will.   

“We don’t know anything until we know what we don’t know.”

~Joyce Meyer

Life Application:

>Take time to honestly contemplate the fruits of the Spirit:

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,

faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control

>Which one(s) do you need to work to develop?  What behaviors are spilling from your heart…what spills from your heart when things or people get stressful?  How about when no one is watching?  Are you OK with that?  How about your loved ones, are they OK with that?  Most importantly, what would Jesus say if He were standing next to you?  Next time stress rips you from your comfort zone, ask, “what would Jesus do”  and you won’t go wrong!