Pride is too much belief in yourself and not enough belief in God. It is not having an accurate view of yourself in relation to God and others. It is to think of yourself more highly than you ought!
The opposite of pride is humility. Jesus says:
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5, ESV)
If pride is having an inaccurate view of self, then humility is having an accurate view of self. Humility is to see ourselves in the proper context. We see ourselves as God sees us. We see ourselves in our true relation to him.
Humility is also about how we relate to others. It is to value others. One way humility can be measured by how much you talk versus how much you listen. The more you listen the more people will value what you have to say. It is the meek that will be heard!
Humility is not something many of us strive for. But there are great advantages to humility. James tells us that it is those who humble themselves before God that God will lift up (see James 4:10).
At the same time, there are consequences to pride. The consequences include:
- Isolation! Prideful people tend to be all about themselves. They brag. They know it all. But it all grows tiring quickly.
- Disillusionment! We are told from a young age that if we set our minds to it that there is nothing we cannot accomplish. But that is not true. There are limits. And constantly coming up against those limitations can cause despair.
- Stagnation! Prideful people resist input, help, and assistance from others. Part of being humble is being teachable, open to new ideas, and accepting of help.
Where do you see pride in your life? How has pride fractured a relationship? How have you grown frustrated with entrenched belief in self? How have you been stuck because of stubbornness? Try on some humility. Instead of attempting to do it on your own, let God do the heavy lifting.
Michael says
I submit a plea of guilty.
Toni says
Thank you for sharing. This is a powerful message and a great reminder of the work that is needed for myself.