Are you proud? How many times has God asked you to do something, and you have either not done it or have done it halfway? Do you know why that is? It’s pride. When we do this, we’re saying, “I’m god of my life, and I know what’s best for me in this situation.”
The problem is, that we really don’t know what’s best for us. We make a mess of our lives at every turn. We get involved with people who aren’t good for us, we make wrong choices, and we generally just make messes with every aspect of our lives in some way or another.
When asked how Martin Luther kept from living a life that was full of pride and selfishness, he responded, “Every time the Devil comes to knock at the door of my heart, it is Jesus who answers. Jesus tells the Devil, ‘Martin Luther no longer lives here. I am the one who lives in his heart and I choose what he does.’” And that is the issue with pride. When we harbor pride in our hearts, we forget that it is Jesus who lives in our hearts and is meant to be the Lord of our lives, making our choices and directing our actions instead of ourselves.
Let’s talk about pride this morning, spiritual pride, how it shows up in the life of every person, Christian or not, and how to combat its deadly affects that keep us away from a life fully surrendered to the Spirit.
Join me please in James 4:6-8, “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (NIV) James tells us that God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble. Clearly, pride is not something that we want lurking in our hearts.
Spiritual pride we understand is this: overconfidence in anything that comes from the “SELF”. Any strength, position, achievement, or any other thing that comes from you, can be a source of spiritual pride, when you begin to be more confident in those things than in God and what God has done.
Righteousness can sometimes be a source of spiritual pride. What does that pride look like? In those who are not yet Christians, it looks like this, “I’m a good person. I make good choices. I do good things. I’m moral.” It’s a refusal to acknowledge that when lined up against the truths and requirements of righteousness in the Bible, you fall short. You will always fall short, because no one is righteous. Even if you’re a “good person”, or do “good things”, it’s not good enough. If you won’t accept this truth, then you have spiritual pride in your own righteousness.
But this happens for Christians as well. It’s the pride that thinks that since you’re saved you no longer have a need to repent. It’s a refusal to acknowledge personal sin, or even to examine the fruit of your life to see if it is full of God’s righteousness or not. This is the kind of pride that we see in 2 Chronicles 7:14 when God calls His people who are called by His name to accept that they have sinned and to repent. Even though they were His people, His people are still capable of sinning even when they are called by His name.
Proverbs 3:6 also indicates that it is possible for us to not submit our ways to Him, to go our own way. To rely on our own righteousness, or even the righteousness we think we already have in Christ, without continuing to submit to His ways.
What is the fix? James says in James 4:7 to SUBMIT yourselves to God. Submission to God is the fix for spiritual pride. When it comes to the pride of self-righteousness, you must submit your sin to God. Be humble with Him. Admit your sin when it happens. Don’t think that sin is never possible, and don’t try to hide it. Psalm 51:10 shows us what our heart attitude should be toward the Lord and our sin, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” (NIV) We have no righteousness of our own. We need God to continually do the work of creating His righteousness in us, creating a pure heart in us. We can’t rest on our own righteousness.
Psalm 139:24 should be the cry of every Christian who doesn’t want to be opposed by God because of their pride, “See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (NIV) We should always be asking the Lord to search our hearts and point out any sin in us, and we should be willing to admit it is sin and humbly repent of it.
We can also be spiritually proud about our spiritual knowledge. With those who are pre-Christians, it’s the attitude that thinks it knows that God isn’t real. It thinks that it knows that the universe came into existence the way science explains it. It thinks it knows that it doesn’t need to read the Bible, or even that it knows all the Bible has to offer and it isn’t for them.
Being proud about your spiritual knowledge means you have an attitude that isn’t teachable about spiritual truths, regardless of the source. As a Christian, it means that you’re not open to hearing someone tell you God’s truth if you don’t respect them, agree with them, like them, etc. 1 Peter 5:5 tells those who are younger to learn from those who are older, to be humble when it comes to learning from others. 1 Timothy 4:12 tells younger people to set an example to all believers in their faith, conduct, speech, love, and purity, which means that if you see a younger believer who’s walk is exemplary and they’re speaking truth to you, then you should also be humble with that person and learn what God is speaking through them.
God’s truth isn’t to be discounted just because it might be coming from someone you don’t see eye to eye with, or look down on for whatever reason. And, we must always be careful to never come to a place where we think that we know all that there is to know about what it means to walk with God. The fix here is again to submit yourself to God, in this case, to submit to His wisdom. Proverbs 3:5 says this, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;” (NIV) Do not lean on your own understanding, your own knowledge. Submit to God to gain His wisdom, wherever and whomever you might find it with.
Another source of spiritual pride for us can be how we internally relate to others. What do I mean by this? It’s an attitude that anyone can fall prey to, whether you’re a Christian or not. This is an attitude that looks at others who aren’t doing as well as you, and finding pride because, hey, you’re not as bad as them. You’re more spiritual because you go to church four times a week. You meditate twice a day. You’ve read all the spiritual gurus and experts about living a good life. You don’t drink or smoke. You have an air that you’re better than those you know.
It’s closely related to righteousness, this source of pride. Except instead of refusing to do self-examination to recognize and repent of personal sin, relational pride elevates itself above others because at least my sin isn’t as bad as theirs. I’m more moral than so and so because I don’t do x, y, and z. Romans 12:3 warns us of falling into the trap of thinking of ourselves more highly than others. It’s not a good or godly way of thinking.
The fix for this kind of pride is to submit to God to develop HUMILITY with others. Philippians 2:4-5 says this, “do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,” (NASB)
It’s easy to feel like we’re better than others when we keep a distance from them. But when we take a moment to stop and to look out for their interests, to sit down and to serve them, we start seeing them in a different way. When you bend down to wash someone’s feet, it’s hard to think of yourself as better than them.
The final source of spiritual pride I want to talk about is our blessings. John reminds us that every good and perfect gift comes from God. He gives His blessings richly, but Jesus reminds us in Matthew that God gives rain to the just and unjust, the righteous and the unrighteous alike. He gives His blessings even to those who don’t even acknowledge Him. Yet how often do we let our blessings become a source of pride for us as Christians?
We think that being blessed means that we’re more godly, or more righteous. We take God’s favor toward us as a sign that we’re doing everything right…and nothing needs to change. Proverbs 16:19 says, “It is better to be humble in spirit with the needy Than to divide the spoils with the proud.” (NASB) His blessings are great, and they should be enjoyed. And of course, we want to be grateful for His blessings when we receive them. But if we are going to let His blessings become a source of spiritual pride for us, we would be better off doing as this proverb says, to be humble in spirit with the needy, than to divide the spoils with the proud.
Here’s the fix for taking spiritual pride in blessings, is to submit to God to cultivate love. 1 Corinthians 13:4 reminds us of this important way to combat the arrogance of pride, “Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant.” (NASB) Submitting our pride to God, allowing His Spirit to cultivate love in us for those around us, those maybe who haven’t received God’s blessings in the same ways we have, allows us to be able to appreciate God’s blessings for what they are, and at the same time show Christ’s love to those we meet, without arrogance or boasting.
Spiritual pride is something we can all be guilty of, but if we humbly submit to God, and allow Him to give us gratitude, wisdom, righteousness, and love, we can keep pride from becoming something that drives us away from a close relationship with God.
Questions to form your quiet times this week:
1. Start a gratitude journal for the week. Write down noticed blessings from God, but also goodness from others that you are thankful for. How does this practice help us combat spiritual pride?
2. Is there any hidden pride in your life (righteousness, knowledge, relational, blessings or anything else that you have overconfidence in that comes from yourself)? How does it affect your walk with God?
3. Read Galatians 6:6-10. What does pride sow & reap in the church? What does pride sow & reap in your life?