The Pride Issue

This is a post I was working on to submit to a Christian Girl blog a while ago,
I thought it might be an interesting read and a constant reminder
for the importance of humility in life .
IMTAPA
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The Pride Issue

I'd grown up in church my entire life, I had a great relationship with God however the topic of humility never seemed to resonate. I’d always thought that as long as you never externally accept a compliment, you were safe - 

Little did I know, God was planning a years’ worth of lessons to teach me one of the most important values I would ever learn as a Christian.

The Bible says that the Lord ‘hates a proud look’ Proverbs 6’17 – and my, had I given more than a few of those. As a girl who had grown up in my home town church there was a certain position I felt I owned, I blindly thought I was the ‘darling of the church’ and that people looked up to me as an exemplar person. I had perfect grades, always looked my best – hugely active in Church activities and completely lost in my own little world where everything revolved around me. I wasn’t always this way, but these emotions crept up on me almost subconsciously and I never even thought twice about my mounting self-opinion. It was a seed that had kept growing until the fruits suddenly started to show in my behaviour and thoughts towards others.

I won’t forget the moment an elder in my church congratulated me on a presentation I had made as part of a church celebration that weekend, I was feeling so puffed-up, so completely self-sufficient - and proud of it. He said ‘Well done you did a very good work today… but remember don’t let pride enter your life’. I brushed it off, but those words stuck and came back to me when I hit the ground a few months later.

As I entered into the last year of my studies at Secondary School, I realised I wasn’t as capable as I thought. Getting into University in England is not an easy task and everything was not as smooth sailing as I might have hoped for. Despite the constant hours of studying and applying myself to my work, it didn’t seem to be enough. I was beyond disappointed when I didn’t get into my first choice university, my world had collapsed because I didn’t get my way. I was no longer the perfect girl who got everything she wanted, and I couldn’t understand why.

I didn’t have a light bulb moment, and I won’t claim an epiphany, but through a series of events starting with a huge academic mishap God showed me:

The world does NOT revolve around me.

I realise now that God was used that situation to convey how severe the sin of pride is. He was not punishing me, He was re-shaping me. I needed to understand that there is no hope for a man who is ‘wise in his own eyes’ Prov26’12

Pride is a personal struggle, and it is a battle that must be consistently fought on a daily basis. It was pride that made Lucifer the devil and it is pride that causes us to sin, when we think our ways are better than obedience to God, we make the mistake of raising ourselves above God in our own minds.

 I did just that. I thought I was an un-touchable in my own right and that God would never let anything or anyone rise above me, when really, He calls us to do just the opposite. If we really want to follow Jesus by His example, we must first look at the greatest act of humility … [He] emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant being born in the likeness of men.’ Phillipans 2’7. It was Jesus’ humility that enabled the Great Exchange to even take place.

My pride was very subtle, but it was killing my relationship with God and I didn’t even know it. I want to encourage you today to take a look at your life, and see the various times you may have thought highly of yourself, ask God for guidance , confess your known and subconscious pride to Him so that He can honour you with a stronger deeper relationship.

‘One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honour.’ -Proverbs 29’23

Do you think of yourself more highly than others?

Have you ever given a ‘haughty look’ before ?

Do you consider humility to be an important part of your life?