“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” Proverbs 11:2 NIV
Good pride: Proverbs 17:6, Galatians 6:4
(Taking joy in the success and growth of others, satisfaction with a job well done, dignity)
Bad pride: Proverbs 16:5, Proverbs 29:23
(Vanity, arrogance, conceit, haughtiness, boasting, superiority)
Why Is Bad Pride Deadly?
- It makes us like Satan
“How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.” Isaiah 14:12-15 NIV (Also see Luke 10:17-18)
- It clouds our judgment
“Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18 NLT
- It taints even our good deeds
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…” Isaiah 64:6 NIV
- It ruins our relationships
“Where there is strife, there is pride…” Proverbs 13:10 NIV
- It produces stress and anxiety
“It is dangerous to be concerned with what others think of you…” Proverbs 29:25 GNT
- It is hard to see in ourselves
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9 NIV
Spiritual pride = fault-finding, criticalness, harsh spirit, superficiality
Selfish pride = defensiveness, presumption, desperate for attention, neglecting others
What Is the Antidote to Our Pride Problem?
Humility
- Humilityis a correct estimation of yourself before God and others
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:3-11 NIV
How Do We Build Humility into Our Hearts?
- Live for the “well done” of the Lord (Matthew 25:23, Colossians 3:23)
“Humility is the place of entire dependence on God. It is from the very nature of things the first duty and the highest virtue of the creature and the root of every virtue.” Andrew Murray
- Live to help others succeed
“The humble person feels no jealousy or envy. He can praise God when others are preferred and blessed before them. He can bear to hear others praised and themselves forgotten.” Andrew Murray
- Live to make life better for others
A servant makes life better for others. To serve God is to serve others. God does not need us to make things better for him.