Is Pride Really a Problem for Christians?
Pride can affect the most spiritually sound and mature Christian. Its dangers are real, and it’s alive and thriving in our world.
It can create deep wounds that leave ugly scars.
Pride can have destructive repercussions that change your life and/or the lives of those around you forever.
In Part 2 of this series, we were reminded of how pride first appeared in the Garden of Eden and forever changed man’s relationship with God. Here are a few more examples of man’s proud actions from Scripture:
ACTION
• What made Moses hit the rock instead of speak to it as God commanded? PRIDE (Numbers 20:8-12)
• What led Ananias & Sapphira to attempt to deceive their congregation and lie to God? PRIDE (Acts 5:1-10)
• Why did King Uzziah believe he could enter the holiest place in the temple even though he was not a high priest? PRIDE (2 Chronicles 26:16-21)
• Why did Haman plot to kill all the Jews? PRIDE (Esther 3-7)
• What made King Nebuchadnezzar declare the greatness of Babylon was due to his own efforts and for his own majesty? PRIDE (Daniel 4:28-33)
CONSEQUENCE
• Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land
• Ananias & Sapphira were both struck dead
• King Uzziah was stricken with leprosy and exiled
• Haman was hanged on gallows he made for a Jewish man
• King Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind for 7 years, ate grass, and lived with wild animals
Before we look at ways to help avoid the corruption of pride, let’s review how Peter’s pride had terrible consequences for him.
Yes, even the Apostles had pride.
In Matthew 26, Jesus foretells that Peter will deny Him three times before dawn, Peter refutes it. He tells Jesus if all the other disciples leave that he won’t. Peter proclaims that even if he must die, He will never deny Jesus, (31-35). In Peter’s pride, he could not believe he was capable of such a thing. He trusted in his own flesh. He forgot the Proverb he knew all too well:
Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall, (Proverbs 16:18).
Jesus warned the disciples many times of the disturbing events to come. He told them what would happen to them when He was taken and assured them that He would return to them, Matthew 26:31-32:
Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”
Jesus also warned Peter while they were in the Garden of Gethsemane to be mindful and praying so he would not enter into temptation instead of sleeping, (Matthew 26:41). Jesus knew Satan was prowling about and would use the circumstances to come to attack the disciples. As He said,
The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Peter fell victim in his weak flesh. He followed Jesus after He was arrested when he should have scattered. He stood quietly among enemies, warming himself with them at the fire and trying to blend in. In fear, disbelief, shock, he denies knowing Christ when he’s asked three times. Each time he’s questioned, Peter gives a more powerful denial. The second time, he denies knowing Jesus by an oath, (Matthew 26:72). Being asked a third time, Peter probably felt like he’s been exposed and the people haven’t been satisfied by his previous responses. So, he takes it about as far as you can…with his third denial, Peter adds a curse to his oath of not knowing Jesus, (Matthew 26:74). It would have sounded something like this, “I swear I know not this man. Let the vengeance of God land on me and let me be the most miserable person in the world if I know anything of this Jesus of Nazareth.” First century Jews would have respected Peter’s willingness to curse himself if he were lying. This would have brought an end to any further accusations.
Unfortunately, Peter believed in his flesh and never imagined what his pride was capable of. Seconds later, when the cock crew the third time and Jesus looked into his eyes, Peter knew. The burden of his sin caused him great pain and he wept bitterly, (Matthew 26:75).
The flesh is weak.
Avoiding Pride
So, how do we avoid pride? We fight it with humility. If pride is the problem, humility is the answer.
The difficulty is having the true embodiment of real humility. False humility won’t do.
You ever know someone who is actually proud that they’re humble? That person looking to do what they – or others – think is right for all the wrong reasons. The person wanting their name to be exalted through their humility. Well, this kind of humility is not what you are looking for because it is not acceptable to God. It isn’t humility at all. It’s pride.
Don’t try to dress your pride in white and think that makes you humble. God sees your costume. It just makes you dressed up like a ghost for Halloween. Better load up on the candy, cause that’ll be your only treat.
Real humility comes from understanding who you really are and having the right view of God. It comes when we know our place.
I pray you realize you are not immune to pride. I hope these steps will aid you in defending yourself against it because in our culture today it’s widespread and deeply rooted.
STEPS IN KNOWING YOUR PLACE
- Stay before the throne of God. This is really all you need to do because everything else falls under here, but I’ll get a little more specific for you to help you in this process. If you are before God’s throne all the time, you can’t help but see His majesty, sovereignty, holiness, power, and love. You will understand that you are His creation, subject to His Lordship and righteous judgment. You would not exist without His love and mercy, and nothing in your life is due to your own efforts alone. Almighty God bestows His blessings upon you and through Him do you receive all you have. Regardless of your personal circumstances, He is worthy of worship and praise. No one stands before the throne of God with a prideful heart.
- Get to know God. You don’t know God very well if you are prideful. Seek the God of the Bible. Pray for Him to reveal Himself to you. The more you know God, the more truly humble you will become. The right view of God will change everything in your life.
- Understand the weakness of the flesh. Don’t count on the flesh. It is full of sin and unworthiness. Count on God. The minute you think you’re not capable of something, no matter what it is, that’s when you’ve made yourself a target. Total dependence on God is something you must accept and live by. Only through Him can we overcome the flesh.
- Assess yourself honestly. “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned,” (Romans 12:3).
- Follow the model of Jesus Christ. He was not arrogant. He was not proud. He didn’t think He was too good to hang around certain people. He wasn’t impressed by people’s money. He wasn’t flamboyant. He didn’t demand to be treated a certain way. He wasn’t spoiled. He didn’t neglect the need of others. He put others before Himself – even to His death.
Avoiding the dangerous effects of pride is something we must actively and seriously do.
Becoming the humble servant isn’t something that happens overnight. It is a life-long quest. We can neither think too highly or too lowly of ourselves. We must see ourselves as we truly are. Then we know our place.
For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? (1 Corinthians 4:7).
The more you seek God, the more of Him you want, and the more He molds you. True humility shows up in your life in ways you might not expect. You celebrate the successes of others. You don’t take yourself too seriously and don’t think you should be treated better than Jesus was. You thank God for your blessings and praise Him even when you are having a difficult time. You never brag on yourself. You’re not preoccupied with yourself.
Jesus restored Peter after His resurrection, (John 21:15-19). I can only imagine the miserable state Peter was in before this happened. Living with what he had done and suffering the death of Jesus. It’s overwhelming!
We can be restored to God as well, and we can fight the temptations of pride when we are aware and prepared.
May God bless you on your journey to know Him more!
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Photo by Shelby Miller on Unsplash
This is revealing. Must do better.
We could all do better, Pat. God bless you!
So glad to hear from you. Love your writings. Miss you both!