Pride is a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction because of our personal qualities or achievements. In other words, it’s thinking too highly of ourselves, what we have or what we do.
Do we post pictures of ourselves online, hoping others will notice and praise us? Do we spend more time thinking about ourselves instead of others? Do we take credit for our talents and accomplishments instead of properly giving the credit to God?
If so, we may have a pride problem.
James says, (4:6, NIV) “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
God doesn't want us to brag or boast about ourselves – He wants us to be humble, which is the OPPOSITE of prideful! In Jeremiah, (9:23,24, NLT) we read, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches. But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know Me and understand that I am the LORD who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things…’”
If we are going to boast, let’s only boast about the wonderful qualities of God, like His lovingkindness and mercy. Let ’s praise Him for the blessings He has provided!
Everything we have comes from God, our Creator. Therefore, all of the glory and credit should go to Him! If someone compliments us about something we did, we can sincerely and humbly respond with something like, “I’m thankful God gave me the ability to do that.”
Jesus is a perfect example of humility. Speaking about Jesus, Philippians (2:7, KJV) says, “But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,…” Jesus wasn’t concerned about his social status and he didn’t promote himself. Instead, he served others and always properly gave the credit and glory to God.
Let’s pay close attention to our words, thoughts and actions. If they seem to be going down a prideful path, let’s immediately try to remember that everything we have is from God. Then let’s cultivate an attitude of gratitude! Working on humility doesn't mean we have to put ourselves down. It’s been said that being humble isn’t about thinking less of ourselves; it’s about thinking of ourselves less!
So, what is pride? It’s thinking too highly of ourselves, what we have, or what we do. Let’s remember the wise and serious words of Proverbs: (Proverbs 16:18, Good News Translation) “Pride leads to destruction, and arrogance to downfall.”
This video is from Christian Questions Podcast. For more information please go to https://christianquestions.com
