A bunch of my family stayed with Rick and I this past weekend—we had a houseful, and it was fun to spend time together. It also reminded me of a fatal flaw everyone suffers from—not just my family, but every human on the face of the earth. Pride. My dad is a proud man—proud of his kids, proud of his accomplishments, etc. His kids are the same—proud of our kids, proud of what we’ve accomplished. But that’s not the kind of pride I’m talking about. The kind I noticed is more like a “know-it-all” attitude. It’s an attitude that revolves around Me. It says “Me” is most important. It’s a sneaky thing, pride. Here’s what I noticed this weekend…
First, I noticed pride in refusing to listen to others. Listening is hard when pride gets in the way because I’m busy thinking about what I plan to say rather than paying attention to what my brother or sister is saying. Second, pride was expressed in attitudes of “I know best, you don’t.” Or, “I’m right, you’re wrong.” Third, pride spews out when I criticize my brother. Fourth, pride takes over when I condemn some action with the attitude, “Well, that’s not what I would have done.” Plus, the older we get, the more pronounced our pride becomes! We are set in our ways and know we are right. Can you relate to any of this?
What does the Bible say about pride? God hates it. “God opposes the proud” (James 4:6). Why? One of the reasons (there’s lots more!) is because of how pride can damage our relationships. An example. My brother thinks he knows how to cook on my stove better than I do, and he told me so. Well, I can respond by getting irritated (because obviously, I know better, right??), and then cling to my superior attitude. That’s pride. Or, I can be humble and let it go. Another example. Whenever misunderstanding exists between me and Rick, or if harsh words have been spoken, I can be full of pride and refuse to forgive or ask for forgiveness. What does that gain me? Well, I get to nurse my hurt feelings, I get to be sure I don’t deserve this kind of treatment, and I can be all high and mighty. Result? Distance, silence, tension. There’s this big divide between us. Yuk. It’s only when one of us humbly seeks forgiveness—and the other is humbly and graciously forgiven that our relationship is restored. Interesting, don’t you think, that restoration requires Rick and me—both of us—to let go of our pride, and choose humility instead.
So, clearly, the opposite of pride is humility. When Jesus gave up His rightful place in heaven to come to earth and dwell as God in the flesh among sinful people, He demonstrated absolute and complete humility. When He was wrongly accused and wrongly sentenced to death, He silently took the scourging, beating, and mocking of the Roman soldiers and the Jews (Matthew 27:27-43). He didn’t fight back. He didn’t get angry. When Jesus hung on that cross, did you know that He prayed for those who had nailed Him to the cross? His prayer was not a request for revenge! Unbelievably, Jesus prayed that God would forgive these men who had pounded nails through His hands and feet into the wood of the cross (Luke 23:34). Hanging there, people mocked Jesus some more, saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself.” And that was true. He could have saved Himself by calling in angels to His rescue. Or by His sacrificial death, He could save those who would believe in Him. He could not do both. Jesus stayed on that cross. He humbly died, an undeserved death, so that you and I could find life by believing in Him. I pray that you’ll choose to believe in Jesus. If you need a Bible or prayer, let me know.
