Pride is one of those words that can mean both good and bad things.  You can have pride in your country, pride in your ethnicity, sports team, even pride in your children.  It is when it mutates into arrogance and self-reliance that it rears its ugly head.  The sneaky thing about pride is that you cannot see it on the surface, but for some pride lurks below the surface of our hearts ready to suck others in.  That is where the underrated virtue of humility comes into play.

God chooses to deal with our pride severely because it is one of the few things He hates (Proverbs 16:5).  A proud heart before God is actually one that is in opposition to Him and will be punished (Proverbs 16:18).  We can often carry an, “I know better attitude,” but as Joseph’s example in (Matthew 1:18-24) show us a humble heart that is willing to listen and obey divine direction.

So how do we become more humble?  We must adopt the mind of Christ that shows us that humility is the only ladder to honor in God’s kingdom (Philippians 2:3-9).  Jesus who came to serve not to be served, who looked out for the interests of others, not just himself, who clothed himself with humility (1 Peter 5:5-7).  Humility actually shows where we put our trust and reveals if we are God-reliant or versus Self-reliant.  This allows us to love God by helping us to remember our place before Him and counter the self-glorifying culture that surrounds us.  Humility also helps us to love people by putting the needs of others above our own.  Humility lowers ourselves to do what isn’t easy for the benefit of others.

1. Is my heart more focused on pride or humility?
2. Am I willing to climb down the ladder of humility for honor in God’s kingdom?
3. Is my life based on God-reliance or self-reliance?