A Look At The Truth About The Problem With Pride
You’ve heard the saying, “Pride comes before the fall.”
And that’s what I thought it was … a saying our mothers told us to try to keep us humble.
But as Rev would say, “That’s downright Biblical.”
Solomon wrote…
Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.
What exactly is pride? What is the problem with pride?
The world defines pride as self-respect, self-esteem, and feeling positive about personal accomplishments.
But that’s not the Biblical definition.
The problem with pride is that the Bible equates pride with arrogance…
I am Wisdom, and I have insight;
Proverbs 8:12–13
I have knowledge and sound judgment.
To honor the Lord is to hate evil;
I hate pride and arrogance,
evil ways and false words.
Why does God hate pride?
Because the pride God hates is not simply feeling good about an accomplishment or achievement. God hates it when our pride leads to an attitude of self-sufficiency and self-righteousness.
Got Questions puts it like this…
Why is pride so sinful? Pride is giving ourselves the credit for something that God has accomplished. Pride is taking the glory that belongs to God alone and keeping it for ourselves. Pride is essentially self-worship.
Jesus said that the greatest Commandments
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second most important commandment is this: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment more important than these two.”
Mark 12:30–31 (GNT)
The problem with pride is that it can lead to neglecting God’s grace, mercy, and love while denying our need for Him … and comparing ourselves to others in a way that fails to love the way He commands.
I believe that’s one of the reasons Jesus showed us what it looks like to live with humble love and told us the importance of living with that same humble love for God and people.
This quote by Pastor Tim Keller sums it up well…
“The Christian Gospel is that I am so flawed that Jesus had to die for me, yet I am so loved and valued that Jesus was glad to die for me. This leads to deep humility and deep confidence at the same time. It undermines both swaggering and sniveling. I cannot feel superior to anyone, and yet I have nothing to prove to anyone. I do not think more of myself or less of myself. Instead, I think of myself less.”
Can you imagine a world where we all lived with Godly confidence … satisfied with our accomplishments and achievements while still being able to live with humility?
What if we consistently remembered how much we are valued and loved by God … and made it our heart’s desire to live each day for His glory?
God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
Ephesians 2:4–5
We are incomplete and insufficient on our own. But God’s grace, mercy, and love through Christ Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit give us everything we need to overcome the problem with pride.
May we find joy and satisfaction in our accomplishments and achievements remembering that the Lord created us with gifts and abilities so that we might use well for His glory.
Let’s pray, thank, and praise Him for who He is and surrender ourselves to Him in faith…
A Prayer for God’s Help
to Remember the Problem with Pride
Father God, thank you for the blessing of Your Word of Truth. We hear mixed messages about pride and our current culture has taken that word and used it in ways You never intended.
I have nothing of my own to offer You, yet You love me. Every blessing and ability is a gift from Your loving hand. I’m a sinner who deserved Your rejection but because of Your great love, You sent Jesus to save me and show me Your love.
Please forgive me for the times I have given in to selfish attitudes … times I’ve trusted in my self-sufficiency and self-righteousness rather than trusting You and relying on the guidance of Your Spirit.
I’ve learned that prideful living is foolish and leads to all kinds of problems but humbly using the talents and skills that You give for Your glory is a wonderful way to live with contentment and joy.
Please help me. I want to focus my efforts on humbly loving You and the people in my life. I want to be a good steward of Your gifts. I want to be transformed to become more and more like Jesus who gave Himself to show the world how to live with humble love for Your glory. Amen.
If we make that our prayer and with God’s help, replace pride with humility, we need to do the following…
- Refuse to compare ourselves with others.
- Admit and repent of our flaws and failures.
- Encourage each other to use our God-given strengths and abilities.
- Be thankful and appreciative.
- “Do for other people whatever [we] would like to have them do for [us].” (Matthew 7:12 NLV)
I love this quote! It’s a wonderful way to help each of us remember the problem with pride and the truth about humility.
“A humble person is not one who thinks little of himself, hangs his head and says, “I’m nothing.” Rather, he is one who depends wholly on the Lord for everything, in every circumstance.” ~ David Wilkerson
May the Lord bless you as you humbly surrender you all to the One who loves you most and best.
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May we all live with humility and love for one another and to God’s glory.
Blessings, Deb!
Amen, Martha! That is my prayer as well. Blessings!
Good morning, Deb, and Amen to your guidance this morning! I give God the praise and glory for every accomplishment big and small! I know that I can do nothing, on my own! And I too, strive to use all the ways that God created me to be for His glory! Proverbs 14:3
In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.
Praying and thinking of You, Deb. May God’s embrace comfort you today and always. Love and hugs
Thank you, Kathy! I pray to faithfully keep my focus on Jesus. Anytime I think about myself too much, I set myself up for all kinds of frustrations and disappointments. By grace alone with His help alone. Have a wonderful day, dear friend!
Thank you for sharing so humbly the WORD. It has made an impact and a difference in my life for sure. May you continue to share and fill the world and those whom you impact with love and joy.
Many blessings
I’m so very glad it blessed you, Caro. Thank you for visiting and for taking the time to share your thoughts. May the Lord be with you and bless you!
I especially love the tips you offer on replacing pride with humility. Great post!
Thank you, Jen. I’m glad you found them helpful. God bless you!
Excellent, even though it did sting a little. Here is where I struggle: ” Pride leads to an attitude of self-sufficiency and self-righteousness.
That part hit home for me too, Maree. The world wants us to believe we can be self-sufficient and self-righteous when we are self-affirming and self-absorbed. Oh, the spiritual battle is so very real. Thanks for visiting and for adding to the conversation. Blessings!
Thank Deb for the beautiful words and prayers to give me a humble heart to love Jesus and others the way he loves me. By his suffering on the cross he has redeemed us from our sins so long as we live by his love, grace, mercy, and humbleness towards others. Have mercy on me for I am a sinner and helping me to always follow you in my life.
Blessing Deb have a wonderful day.
Blessings, Ana. All that Christ Jesus has done for us is our primary reason for living with humility each day. He has done it all for us by grace because of His love. Oh, to faithfully follow His will and trust His ways. Blessings!