Rooting Out Pride: Humble Yourself

Pride comes before a fall. Did you know that saying comes from the bible?

Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.”

There are many verses in the bible that talk about how much God HATES pride.

Isaiah 2:12 “For the LORD of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up–and it shall be brought low.”

James 4:6 says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

But is all pride bad?

The dictionary has 3 definitions for pride:

1. feeling pleasure and satisfaction about something or someone you are connected with
2. feelings of your own worth and respect for yourself
3. the belief that you are better or more important than other people

I don’t think the first two definitions are the kind of pride that God hates.

For example, it’s good to take pride in your work, or in something else we’ve done well. The Bible urges us to be diligent and do our best. “I know that there is nothing better for people than to … find satisfaction in all their toil—this is a gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13).

And it’s great to feel pleasure and satisfaction when we watch a family member graduate, or watch our husband receive an award, or hear about how our friend has received recognition for their service to others.

It’s also ok to feel good about ourselves when we have done well at something, recognising our own efforts and hard work, and it’s essential that we respect ourselves enough not to let others take advantage or walk all over us.

“Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else” – Galatians 6:4

But I think the problem comes when we take all the credit for our success and begin to think that we’re BETTER than others. God has spoken that we are all EQUAL – when we begin to believe something contrary to this, that is when pride turns into something poisonous.

This is the kind of pride God HATES – arrogance. He hates it because it elevates us and makes us think we’re better than we really are. It blinds us to our own faults, positioning ourselves above others and separating us from them.

God HATES this kind of pride. Proverbs 16:5 is very firm – “Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished.” Arrogance brings destruction and so it must go.

Living the way God calls us to live, living in his freedom, does not allow for arrogant pride.

It separates us from God. Why turn to God if we think we don’t need Him but are enough in ourselves? We become like Pharaoh in ancient Egypt who enslaved God’s people. He was proud and told Moses, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord” (Exodus 5:2).

So, what does this sort of pride look like?

• Unhealthy pride is demanding and expects recognition. It’s the opposite of what Jesus teaches in Luke 14:10 where he calls those listening to seek no honour. 
• Pride looks highly at itself and shows off. It gets easily offended, exaggerates offenses and demands recompense for the slightest of wrongdoing. 
• Pride takes us to unreasonable thoughts, actions and places, driving out selflessness and letting selfishness in, making way for self serving decisions.
• Pride inhibits our ability to see other’s point of view, deciding it’s right, even when it’s not, and never admitting it could be wrong. It listens to yes-men, discouraging opinions different to it’s own.
• Pride makes forgiveness harder, moving past offense harder, and it breeds bitterness. It leads to rash decisions and unwise choices, affecting friendships, marriages and entire nations. 

Pride drives DISRESPECT, DIVISION and ANGER. It sees others as lesser. Pride destroys.

We will all be tempted by pride in one way or another, but it’s important to constantly put it to death – shut pride down. We need to pray for humility. We need to act in humility. 

James 4:7-8 “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you.”

What does humility look like?

Humility is not meekness or weakness. It’s not being self-effacing or submissive. Humility is having a sober judgement of ourselves.

Romans 12:3 “Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.”

• A humble person is aware of the state of their heart – good and bad. They are secure and honour others, expecting nothing in return.
• They are not easily offended and are quick to forgive, extending grace instead of anger toward those who offend them. 
• They praise God both when things are going well and when things are tough, submitting their thoughts and actions to him, driving out selfishness and letting selflessness take the lead.
• They consider other points of view, quickly admitting when they are wrong and encourage wise input from those around them.
• They celebrate the successes of others and are willing to support rather than always being number one. But are wiling to step into whatever role God is directing them to.

Humility drives RESPECT, UNITY and PEACE. It is recognising that you are neither too big, nor too small, for any task.

The difference between those first two definitions of pride and definition number 3? One and two are about what you (or others) have done. Number three speaks to who you are – and only God can determine that.

It is ok to take pride in the work you have done, but don’t take credit for your abilities – these were given by God and are nothing to do with you. Instead, humbly thank God for giving them to you, and make it your goal to use them for His glory.

1 Corinthians 10:31 “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”.

Having a sober judgement about yourself is to remember who we are with and without Him and who we are in relation to Him. Compared to God, we are NOTHING. Let’s be real, we don’t even come close. 

Let’s remember that when Jesus was on this earth, even HE was without pride – the one person who had the right to be prideful. Let’s humble ourselves actively.

Pride is only out to destroy us. Whereas humility is from God and is life-giving. Let’s choose to be humble.