Proverbs 11:2; 16:18
I have discovered that I am pretty good at spotting pride in other people. It is almost a spiritual gift. I can recognize arrogance, stubbornness and an inflated ego from across the room. Unfortunately, I am not nearly as gifted at recognizing those same things when they are happening in me.
Proverbs does not leave room for misunderstanding. “Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom” (Proverbs 11:2, NLT). A few chapters later, Solomon makes it even clearer: “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18, NLT). The problem is that pride rarely walks into our lives announcing itself as pride. It usually shows up wearing something much more respectable.
Sometimes pride looks like defensiveness. Someone points out something I could have handled differently and before they finish the sentence, I am already preparing my closing argument. I am not listening to understand. I am listening for a brief pause when I can explain why they are wrong.
Sometimes pride looks like comparison. We quietly measure our success against someone else’s. Their marriage, house, career, ministry, kids, vacation or apparently perfect lawn becomes the measuring stick for how we are doing. If we are ahead, we feel pretty good. If we are behind, we feel threatened. Either way, pride is doing the measuring.
Sometimes pride simply needs to be right. I have reached an age where I have accumulated enough experience to have strong opinions about things that do not deserve strong opinions. I can become remarkably confident about the fastest route across midtown Wakarusa, which checkout line will move quickest or exactly how early we need to leave for an event.
Humility does not mean believing you have nothing valuable to contribute. It means you no longer need to prove your value by winning every argument, receiving every compliment or being better than someone else.
Jesus showed us a better way. He “gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave” (Philippians 2:7, NLT). If anyone ever had the right to insist on His position, it was Jesus. Instead, He chose humility. Maybe the question today is not, “Do I struggle with pride?” We all do. A better question is, “Where is pride showing up in me right now?”
Ask God to show you where defensiveness needs to become teachability, comparison needs to become gratitude and the need to be right needs to become humility. Spiritual maturity is not proven by winning the room. Sometimes it is revealed when we care more about becoming like Jesus than proving we were right.