Pride is the original sin, and it’s the one that still gives us all the most problems. In the annals of history, pride remains undefeated in every life. It seems we can never get over ourselves. Every day we spend our time looking out for our pleasure, our reputation, and our well-being. We fill our thoughts with what we want to accomplish, where we need to go, and what we need to get done.
If only we gave so much thought to what we could do for Christ! Let me disappoint you before you continue reading. You will not find a magic three-step plan to eliminate pride from your life here. I struggle with this like everyone else, but there are Biblical principles we can employ to at least affect some changes in our lives.
Satan kicked off this whole debacle when he decided he was as good or better than God (Isaiah 14:12–14). The pride of the Devil got him kicked out of Heaven (Ezekiel 28:17), and he’s been infecting humanity with his delusion ever since. Pride is the original sin of Satan, and it became the original sin of mankind when the devil convinced Eve she could be like God (Genesis 3:4–6). This sin of considering ourselves equal to God continues to perpetuate throughout the ages. Every sin we commit comes back to us declaring that we know better than God (Romans 1:21–23). This is the problem of pride.
At its worst, pride convinces us that serving ourselves is more important than serving God. We are insatiable consumers of knowledge, comfort, and pleasure. No matter how much the Lord blesses us, we always want more. We want more money, more stuff, more entertainment, better clothes, a better place to live, and better relationships. It’s always more, more, more. Even if we somehow get the tangible side of this under control, the mental side is even worse.
I don’t know if it’s the same for you, but my brain is a chaotic place. It’s never quiet and never still. Most of the thoughts are in the same “more, more, more!” vein. Do we have enough money to pay for that? Should we add new decorations around the place? Do I need any new writing accessories? What’s going on in the world? Am I missing something? When am I going to find some time to do what I want to do? And on it goes. We are never content with what we have because someone else always has more of something we want. The problem of pride rides again.
In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that God blesses the humble (Matthew 5:3). The Apostle Paul wrote that humility is one of the primary characteristics of living a life worthy of your calling (Ephesians 4:1–3). Thousands of years ago, the Psalmist wrote that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (Psalm 138:6; see also James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5). Don’t we want to be blessed, experience God’s grace, and live a life worthy of His calling? If so, we’ve got to deal with the problem of pride. We need humility.
Everything pride tells us we need is of this world. Since we know we can’t love the things of this world and God, one of them has to go (1 John 2:15–17). To love the Lord, we have to let go of wanting more, and be content with less right now (Philippians 4:11–13). You can’t keep any earthly goods anyway, no matter how much more you might get. It’s all going to burn up under God’s judgment (2 Peter 3:10). Let it go. Learn a lesson from Lucifer. Pride is a disease that will kill your eternal soul (Proverbs 16:18). This life is not about you; it’s about God (Colossians 3:1–3; Colossians 3:23; Galatians 2:19-20). We are not here to get all we can; we are here to serve the Lord (Romans 12:1–2). That is the mindset that will destroy the problem of pride. Learn it, practice it, and live it.