Transcription
I think one of the most difficult sins to fight against is pride. And some reasons why is because pride occurs in the mind, and it can grow without us realizing it. And while it's talked a lot about at church, how do you practically fight against pride or take active steps to grow in humility? Should we just walk around with low self-esteem, thinking we're the worst? Or do we belittle our achievements whenever we accomplish something great?
To start, let's take a closer look at pride. And first, we need to understand that pride is a sin. Mark chapter 7, verse 20. And Jesus said, "What comes out of a man that defiles a man." For from within, out of the heart of men, precede evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.
According to Thayer's Greek Lexicon, pride is defined as being the character of one who, with a swollen estimate of his own powers or merits, looks down on others and even treats them with insolence and contempt. Biblically, pride is having the mindset to elevate ourselves to the point where we look down or think less of others.
Now, please note that we as Christians should fight against pride, but that doesn't mean that we can't be confident. Look at Hebrews chapter 4, verse 16. "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." With verses like these, we as believers should hold our heads high in confidence because God himself tells us that we can come to him for help when we need it. You see, pride looks at what it has and smiles because they know they're better than the person next to them. But godly confidence looks at what they have and smiles because they know that what they received was a gift from God, and that they can go to God if they need more.
So now that we see that pride is a sin, and that there's a difference between pride and godly confidence, let's lay out three steps that anyone can take if they want to grow in humility and fight against their pride.
Step number one: Look at yourself through God's eyes. James chapter 4, verse 10. "Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up." Notice how it says to humble yourself in the sight of the Lord. You see, one error that we can make when we fight against our pride is to direct our focus upon ourselves. And we can think, "No, I'm not that strong, or I'm not that great, or I'm not smart." And honestly, that type of thinking is unproductive when you're fighting against pride because we're not handling the issue. Pay attention: what's the focus when we say, "I'm not strong, and I'm not great, and I'm not smart"? The focus is still us. Instead, when we feel ourselves getting puffed up and we start thinking about how strong, smart, or accomplished we are, we need to look at the source of our power and strengths. It says to humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, the Lord of lords, who has bestowed upon us the tiniest sliver of his infinite power. Our wisdom pales in comparison to his. He freely gives us his love, his grace, and his mercy. He is our faithful friend, our loving Father, and our righteous, generous, and compassionate King. So should any of us struggle with thinking that we're great, we need only lift our eyes to the only one that is truly great, and that's Jesus Christ, who loves us, died for us, and adopted us into his family so that we can one day live a perfect life with him in heaven.
Step number two: Look at people through God's eyes. Jesus says in John 13:34, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you also love one another." Jesus said these words after he washed his disciples' feet. The King of Kings and God of Glory, Lord himself, placed himself in the position of servant to mere mortals. You see, Jesus did more than bend backwards on our behalf. He was beaten, spat upon, whipped, mocked, abandoned, tortured, pierced, and then he had his heart broken to pay the price for our sin. Jesus knew what needed to be done, was willing to do it, and then he commanded his followers to love one another as he loved. So if pride is something that we struggle with, and we have a tendency to look down on people, we need to look at the hands of Jesus and how he wants to serve the people that we're tempted to look down upon. When Jesus saw people, he desired to place himself beneath them to heal them, feed them, teach them, correct them, help them, save them. So my recommendation, if you want to grow in humility, is volunteer your time and serve people. In other words, do what Jesus did and place yourself underneath people. I think at church, we have too many people sitting in the seats deciding if the praise and worship was better than last week, or they judged the Bible study to see if it was decent. No, no. The church should be a body of people that meets people's needs and then serves people. Jesus said to love people the way he loved people. So a question that we have to ask ourselves is, what are we doing for the people that Jesus died for? If our Master gave everything to them, then we, as Jesus's followers, should look at ourselves and consider what we're willing to give. And should we ever come to a place where we don't want to give anything, we need to think long and hard about whether Jesus is truly the Lord and Master of our life.
Step number three: Look at Ministry through God's eyes. Second Timothy chapter 4, verse 7. "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." These words were spoken by Paul the Apostle before he died in prison. And he said that he fought the good fight and finished the race. And I want to mention that before he died, he encouraged and supported the churches of Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Philippi, Ephesus, and Colossi. And he preached the gospel and played a huge role in the salvation of people's souls. And on top of that, look at how much he suffered for the kingdom of God. Second Corinthians chapter 11, verses 24 to 28: "From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have been in the deep. In journeys often, in perils of waters, and perils of robbers, and perils of my own countrymen, and perils of the Gentiles, and perils in this city, and perils in the wilderness, and perils in the sea, and perils among false brethren. In weariness and toil and sleeplessness, often in hunger and thirst, and fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides the other things, what comes upon me daily, my deep concern for all the churches." You see, Paul was a man who gave everything he had for God. He knew that his time was limited, and so he made it a point to give it all that he had for the ministry, or in other words, the service of others. I'll get to the point: we don't have a lot of time left here on Earth. Whether the Lord takes us sooner or later, we will die, and soon we will no longer be able to encourage or support our moms or dads, our spouses, family, friends, or the people around us. The life of a Christian is a race that we need to finish, and it's a fight that we need to fight. So when the time comes, and our minds are consumed with thoughts of how great we are, let us instead focus on what we can do while we're still here. Life's too short to dwell on thoughts of how great we are. So let's look at what God sees and do what needs to be done for God's Kingdom, for people's souls, and for the encouragement of those around us, so that we too can say, "I've finished my race, I fought my fight, and I gave it all that I had."
So to conclude, note that the key to fighting against pride and growing in humility is to look away from yourself and others and to direct your attention to God. And to look at how he would look at you, the people around you, and the ministry and place of service that he puts you in. See these the way that he would want you to see them. It's when you read the Bible and see how great God is. It's when you pray and you know that the God of the universe is listening to you. And it's when you rest knowing that he has your back. It's then that pride dissipates, and in its place will grow humility and confidence that is rooted in God. So own this, grow in this, and never forget Jesus loves you.