Pride is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the Christianity. While we understand that pride is not a Godly trait, and that it’s dangerous (a topic we will discuss at length), it’s also important to understand that God doesn’t want His people to have no sense of self-worth. Self-esteem is not the same thing as pride. However, it’s easy to let an inflated sense of self-esteem turn into pride. Doing so opens the doors to a host of dangers caused by pride.
By and large, humans are our own worst enemy. When you read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, this is one of the most common themes. God continues to offer His people a way to escape their problems, but they consistently trip over themselves on their way to Him. While it’s easy for us to read some of those stories and critique what those men and women should’ve done, that’s because we have the privilege of knowing how the story ends. If we’re being honest, our stories aren’t all that different. In many cases, we spend so much time getting in our own way that we struggle to get to the places that God is trying to take us.
When facing our struggle of self-sabotage, one of the most dangerous enemies that we face is pride. It’s important to understand that pride and self-esteem are not the same thing. God wants you to know your value. He wants you to understand your worth, and He longs for you to see yourself the way that He sees you. The Bible teaches us in multiple passages that we are loved, valued, and worthy because of His sacrifice.
However, we must be careful not to let that self-esteem turn into pride. When pride keeps in, we get to a place of overinflated ego. While there’s nothing wrong with being proud of an accomplishment such as receiving a promotion that you’ve worked for, graduating, or another major life milestone, it’s vital that you understand that you are only in the position that you’re in because of God’s blessings on your life. When you forget that, you’ve fallen prey to pride.
God’s Word speaks at length about every human emotion that we may face, including pride. Are you a prideful person? If so, allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you so you can start making some changes? Even if you don’t struggle with pride, learning what the Bible says about it can help you in the future. You don’t have to fall prey to pride. Instead, you can live your life as a constant reflection of the goodness of God in your life.
Pride is a Problem
Revelation 3:17 (TPT)
For you claim, “I’m rich and getting richer-I don’t need a thing.” Yet you are clueless that you’re miserable, poor, blind, barren, and naked.
One of the worst things that you can ever think about yourself is that you have it all together. That faulty mindset is at the heart of dangerous pride. In Revelation, Christ sends messages to seven different churches. While He praised some of them for the things they were doing, He also pointed out some faults.
This particular statement was made to a church that seemed to think they had everything figured out. They were rich and claimed to not need a thing. What they didn’t realize is that they were lacking plenty of things.
That’s the problem that pride presents for us. Instead of focusing on the things that we need to improve, we think only about the things that we already have. On your best day, you don’t have it all together. Don’t let that fact discourage you. Not having everything “figured out” doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with you, it just speaks to your need for a Savior.
Pride Is a Poison
Genesis 39:-11-14 (ESV)
But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came into me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.”
In order to understand one of the dangerous aspects of pride, we need to understand what happened here. Joseph was working for a man named Potiphar and had been entrusted with everything Potiphar had. Earlier in the chapter, the Bible describes Joseph as “handsome in form and appearance” (Genesis 39:6). Unfortunately, Potiphar’s wife was attracted to Joseph and she made an advance towards him. When he realized what was happening, he ran from the room, but she had a hold of his robe.
Not only was Potiphar’s wife angry that she didn’t get what she wanted, her pride was hurt. It caused her to lie about Joseph, and he wound up spending years in prison. Why? Because pride is poison, not only to you, but to the people around you.
Pride doesn’t only cause you to forget the goodness of God, but if left unchecked, it can cause you to devalue the people around you. Potiphar’s wife didn’t care about Joseph’s future. Her pride was damaged, and she set him up for failure. Don’t allow your pride to cause you to think less of the people around you. In fact, keeping pride in check ensures that you think more highly of others than you do yourself. This means that pride spreads like a poison, not only impacting your spiritual life, but also damaging your relationships with others.
Pride Damages Priorities
Mark 10:31 (TPT)
“But many who are considered to be the most important now will be the least important then. And many who are viewed as the least important now will be considered the most important then.”
In addition to being a problem and a poison, pride gets our priorities all out of whack. In this passage, Christ was speaking to the disciples, some of whom had a problem with pride. Why wouldn’t they? These 12 ordinary men had been hand-selected by God to work alongside Christ. This conversation took place after Christ had interacted with a proud, rich, young man. The disciples were confused about his rebuke of the man’s pride and started asking questions.
Why were they concerned? Because they (especially Peter) had the occasional struggle with pride. Isn’t it nice to know that their struggle with pride didn’t preclude them from service? Christ still called them, walked with them, worked with them, lived with them, and loved them, even though they could occasionally get an inflated sense of ego.
This quote from Jesus clearly explains why we need to keep pride in check. Pride tells you that you’ve made it to the front of the line, and no one is going to take your spot. Pride focuses on your personal advancement in this world, often at the expense of others.
However, Jesus never told His disciples to focus on worldly success. Doing so would take their eyes off eternity, and would allow pride to creep in. We would do well to apply the same lesson to our own lives. In the Kingdom, the people who proudly march to the front of the line will be last, while the humble will be promoted to the “head of the class.” Where we end up hinges on what we let pride do to our priorities here.
A Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I know that the only thing in me that is good is You. Please, when pride begins to rear its ugly head in my life, help me to take the steps to squash it. I know that everything I have is a gift from You, and I am thankful for all of it. You have blessed me, and I will not let pride blur my vision regarding that. In Christ’s name, Amen.