The War on Pride

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” -

Ezekiel 36:26

I’ve been thinking about the idea of pride recently. According to the Cambridge Dictionary it means:

“A feeling of pleasure and satisfaction that you get because you or people connected with you have done or gotten something good”

It’s not actually wrong or sinful to be proud of your friends, something you have done, or who you are. When the word “pride” becomes a sin is when you make it your idol. The reality is that some of the most humble people I have met are also some of the wealthiest and with some of the largest platforms in the world. Do you know what makes them different?

They don’t find pride in what THEY accomplished - rather they recognize the gifts God gave them that equipped them to be the best at what they do. I really appreciate how God safeguarded me in the platforms I’ve had over the years - because I ultimately can’t take credit for them. Yes, I did go to school and do a ton of work to learn things - because you should. BUT doors were open to me because I was born into poverty, had teenage parents, and because I am the granddaughter of someone who had an abortion. My life experiences and family, which I have no control over, opened a lot of doors for me to do the things I do today.

That recognition has humbled me in moments that I try to take credit for anything I’ve done. Like the story of Esther, I can only give God the credit for the doors He opened in my life. However, I’ve found there are still moments where pride can come through in different ways. It’s the pride to hide - hide the insecurities or doubts or areas where I want to grow.

Someone brought up how gossip is people bonding on brokenness - rather than healing. I would add that pride is hiding your brokenness, so you can take credit where God has done the miraculous for you. In a room where pride is down and brokenness is shone in the open, there is no longer room for gossip. In a church where brokenness is brought wide into the open, with the hopes of restoration, pride, gossip, and other sins have no room to grow.

Isn’t that crazy? To think that humility is the path forward for whole individuals, communities, and churches. When we take the spotlight off of our accomplishments and highlight our brokenness, our hard hearts become soft - to one another and to God. The older I get the more I see pride is the number one enemy in society today. If we humble ourselves before a righteous God and recognize that we are nothing without Him, He will exalt us and we will have the freedom to be 100% who He made us to be.

This week I encourage you to look at the areas in life where you can grow. Maybe it’s confessing to God that you’ve put your own strength over His. Maybe you need to walk into your community and find a group of friends to shine the spotlight on your weaknesses. Pray how you can have a humble and soft heart, so God can get all the glory and use you in mighty ways.