Luke 18:14b
"'...for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.'"
Pride manifests in so many ways. As a teenager, I didn’t think I was prideful. I knew I struggled with it from time to time, but I wouldn’t have said it was one of the major sins I struggled with. God has been seriously redefining my terms!
I thought of pride as someone who thought they were the best at something and lorded it over people. God has redefined it for me: anything that puts me (my wants, my needs, my goals, etc.) on the throne of my heart rather than God Himself. As long as God is not the center of my focus - which includes my thoughts and actions - then I am committing idolatry.
What is the idol I am worshipping, and why am I worshipping it? Good things can become idols - time with my spouse, writing my book - but why do those idols become idols? Because I am seeking to meet a need or desire through that idol instead of through God. I am placing my hope in that thing rather than in God.
Spending time with my husband meets my need for intimacy. Writing my book fulfills me. These are not bad things, but it is bad when I seek them over the will of God. These things could very well be within God’s will, but I need to check in with Him first, and His eternal perspective. Any time I try to meet my needs through something other than God and His will, I am being prideful.
That’s a lot of pride.
Thank God for His grace! I pray for His continued diligence in my life to not only point out my sin, but to help me overcome it. For every don’t there’s a do. (See Impressions - Do’s and Don’ts for more.)
Paul says of Christ in Philippians 2:8, “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Instead of living in my pride, I am to humble myself in obedience to God. The first step for this is confession.
Lord, thank You for Your help to overcome my pride and walk in humility with You.
How does this definition of pride (and thus, humility) affect you?
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