Overcoming Pride: Embracing Humility Through God's Wisdom

Devotional

Day 1: Recognizing Our Own Pride

Pride is an unhealthy, elevated view of oneself, abilities, or possessions. It's easy to identify in others but difficult to recognize in ourselves. This blindness to our own pride can lead to destructive behaviors and attitudes that distance us from God and others. Pride often manifests in subtle ways, such as assuming we know everything, feeling too good for certain tasks, or being overly critical of others. These behaviors create a barrier between us and the humility that God desires for us.

Proverbs 3:7 warns us not to be wise in our own eyes but to fear the Lord and turn away from evil. When we rely on our own understanding and elevate ourselves above others, we distance ourselves from God's wisdom and guidance. Recognizing our own pride is the first step toward humility and a closer relationship with God. [20:29]

Proverbs 3:7 (ESV): "Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil."

Reflection: Think of a recent situation where you assumed you knew better than others. How can you approach similar situations with humility and a willingness to learn from others?

Day 2: The Relational Costs of Pride

Pride often lies at the root of relational conflicts, whether in marriages, workplaces, or friendships. It insists on having our own way and being recognized for our worth, which can lead to strife and division. When we prioritize our own desires and opinions over those of others, we create an environment of tension and discord. This self-centeredness can damage relationships and hinder our ability to connect with others on a deeper level.

True humility, modeled after Christ, involves laying down our lives for others. It means putting the needs and well-being of others before our own and seeking to serve rather than be served. By adopting a humble attitude, we can foster healthier, more loving relationships that reflect the love of Christ. [34:30]

Philippians 2:3-4 (ESV): "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others."

Reflection: Think of a relationship in your life that has been strained by pride. How can you take a step toward humility and reconciliation in that relationship today?

Day 3: The Personal Costs of Pride

Pride creates inner turmoil and a constant need for validation. It hardens our hearts and leads to frustration and weariness. The desire to be great and known for something can wear us out, as we were never meant to carry that burden. When we seek validation from others and rely on our own abilities, we place an immense amount of pressure on ourselves to perform and succeed.

This constant striving for recognition and approval can lead to burnout and a sense of emptiness. Instead, we are called to find our worth and identity in Christ, who offers us rest and peace. By surrendering our need for validation and trusting in God's love and acceptance, we can experience true inner peace and contentment. [39:32]

Matthew 11:28-30 (ESV): "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Reflection: Reflect on an area of your life where you feel a constant need for validation. How can you surrender this need to God and find rest in His acceptance?

Day 4: The Spiritual Costs of Pride

Pride separates us from God because it keeps us from admitting our sins and seeking His guidance. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. When we rely on our own understanding and refuse to acknowledge our need for God, we distance ourselves from His presence and wisdom. This self-reliance can lead to spiritual dryness and a lack of intimacy with God.

To draw closer to God, we must humble ourselves and acknowledge our dependence on Him. This involves confessing our sins, seeking His guidance, and trusting in His wisdom. By embracing humility, we open ourselves up to receive God's grace and experience a deeper relationship with Him. [45:21]

James 4:6-7 (ESV): "But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

Reflection: Consider an area of your life where you have been relying on your own understanding. How can you submit this area to God and seek His guidance today?

Day 5: The Cure for Pride

True humility is not thinking less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves less. By focusing more on Christ and less on our own desires, we can combat pride. Trusting in the Lord with all our hearts and acknowledging Him in all our ways will lead to a life of obedience and service, following the example of Jesus. Jesus came not to be served but to serve, and He calls us to do the same.

By surrendering our lives and submitting to His authority, we find healing and refreshment for our souls. This shift in focus allows us to live a life of purpose and fulfillment, rooted in God's love and grace. As we serve others and seek to glorify God in all that we do, we experience the true joy and peace that comes from living a humble and obedient life. [48:08]

Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV): "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."

Reflection: Think of a specific way you can serve someone else today, following the example of Jesus. How can this act of service help you focus more on Christ and less on yourself?

Sermon Summary

### Summary

Good morning, everyone. Today, we delved into Proverbs 3, focusing on the pervasive issue of pride. Unlike other books of the Bible, Proverbs presents a unique challenge for preaching due to its structure of seemingly disconnected one-liners. However, as I prayed and reflected on the most pressing issues we face, pride emerged as the root cause of many struggles, including depression, anxiety, anger, and marital strife.

Pride is an unhealthy, elevated view of oneself, abilities, or possessions. It's easy to spot in others but incredibly difficult to see in ourselves. Alan Parr's 15 signs of pride, such as assuming you know everything, feeling too good for certain tasks, and being overly critical, serve as a mirror to reflect on our own hearts. Proverbs 3:7 warns us not to be wise in our own eyes but to fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

Pride leads to destruction, as seen throughout Scripture and history. It causes us to rely on our own understanding rather than seeking God's wisdom. This self-reliance distances us from God and others, leading to relational, personal, and spiritual costs. Relationally, pride is often the root of conflicts in marriages, workplaces, and friendships. Personally, it creates inner turmoil and a constant need for validation. Spiritually, it separates us from God, as He opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5).

To combat pride, we must adopt true humility, which C.S. Lewis describes as thinking of ourselves less, not thinking less of ourselves. This shift allows us to focus more on Christ and less on our own desires. Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and not lean on our own understanding. By acknowledging Him in all our ways, He will make our paths straight.

Ultimately, the cure for pride is to quit playing God and to serve others, following the example of Jesus, who came not to be served but to serve. As we surrender our lives and submit to His authority, we find healing and refreshment for our souls.

###

Key Takeaways

1. Pride is Hard to See in Ourselves: Pride is an unhealthy, elevated view of oneself, abilities, or possessions. It's easy to identify in others but difficult to recognize in ourselves. This blindness to our own pride can lead to destructive behaviors and attitudes that distance us from God and others. [20:29]
2. Relational Costs of Pride: Pride often lies at the root of relational conflicts, whether in marriages, workplaces, or friendships. It insists on having our own way and being recognized for our worth, which can lead to strife and division. True humility, modeled after Christ, involves laying down our lives for others. [34:30]
3. Personal Costs of Pride: Pride creates inner turmoil and a constant need for validation. It hardens our hearts and leads to frustration and weariness. The desire to be great and known for something can wear us out, as we were never meant to carry that burden. [39:32]
4. Spiritual Costs of Pride: Pride separates us from God because it keeps us from admitting our sins and seeking His guidance. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. To draw closer to God, we must humble ourselves and acknowledge our dependence on Him. [45:21]
5. The Cure for Pride: True humility is not thinking less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves less. By focusing more on Christ and less on our own desires, we can combat pride. Trusting in the Lord with all our hearts and acknowledging Him in all our ways will lead to a life of obedience and service, following the example of Jesus. [48:08]
### [48:08]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[18:43] - Introduction to Proverbs 3
[19:43] - Identifying Pride
[20:29] - Definition of Pride
[21:19] - Signs of Pride
[24:12] - Wisdom vs. Pride
[26:02] - The Dangers of Self-Reliance
[27:10] - Paul's Teaching on Humility
[29:01] - Recognizing God's Gifts
[30:58] - The Consequences of Pride
[34:30] - Relational Costs of Pride
[39:32] - Personal Costs of Pride
[45:21] - Spiritual Costs of Pride
[48:08] - True Humility
[51:03] - Trusting in the Lord
[56:26] - Jesus' Example of Service
[58:28] - Surrender and Repentance
[62:39] - Prayer and Reflection

Bible Study Guide

Observation Questions

According to Proverbs 3:5-7, what are we instructed to do instead of relying on our own understanding?
In 1 Peter 5:5, what is the relationship between humility and receiving grace from God?
How does Romans 12:3 describe the way we should view ourselves?

Interpretation Questions

Why does Proverbs 3:5-7 emphasize trusting in the Lord and not being wise in our own eyes? How does this relate to the issue of pride discussed in the sermon?
What does it mean that "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" in 1 Peter 5:5? How can this principle affect our daily lives and relationships?
Romans 12:3 talks about thinking with "sober judgment." How does this concept help us combat pride and develop humility?

Application Questions

Reflect on a recent conflict you had. How might pride have played a role in that situation? What steps can you take to approach similar situations with humility in the future?
The sermon mentioned that pride is often hard to see in ourselves but easy to spot in others. Can you identify a specific area in your life where you might be blind to your own pride? How can you seek God's help to reveal and address it?
Proverbs 3:5-6 encourages us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts. What is one area of your life where you struggle to trust God fully? How can you begin to surrender that area to Him this week?
The sermon highlighted the relational costs of pride, especially in marriages and friendships. Think of a relationship that is currently strained. How can you practice humility to help heal that relationship?
Personal pride can lead to inner turmoil and a constant need for validation. Identify one way you seek validation from others. How can you shift your focus to seeking validation from God instead?
The sermon mentioned that true humility is thinking of ourselves less, not thinking less of ourselves. What is one practical way you can focus more on Christ and less on your own desires this week?
Jesus' example of service was highlighted as the ultimate cure for pride. What is one specific act of service you can commit to this week to follow His example and combat pride in your life?

Sermon Clips

### Quotes for Outreach

1. "An unhealthy, elevated view of one's self, abilities or possessions. That's what pride is. An unhealthy, elevated view of one's self, abilities or possessions." [20:29] (6 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

2. "Pride will always lead to one end. There's going to be one end to pride and that is destruction. Pride always leads to destruction. Every time. See, because what pride does is pride begins to slowly lull us into thinking that we are better than we actually are." [30:58] (19 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

3. "The tragedy of pride is that it keeps you from seeing God, which means the cure for pride, is to quit playing God. To move out of the way and trust that he can do whatever he's called us to." [51:03] (13 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

4. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths." [51:39] (11 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

5. "Whoever would be great among you must be your servant. And whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the son, a man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many." [56:56] (21 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

### Quotes for Members

1. "Pride has a relational cost. I would say this, that pride is the root of most of our relational problems. That most of the problems that we have relationally with people, the source of conflict with others almost always comes back to pride." [34:30] (16 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

2. "Pride has a personal cost. There's a relational cost and there's a personal cost to it. Because there's an inner turmoil that comes with pride. Where there's this, it is just hardening your heart towards people and towards anyone and anything. So it hardens your heart. There's a frustration that is just welling. Welling up as pride takes a bigger route." [39:32] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

3. "Pride has a spiritual cost because our pride often separates us from God. Because often our pride keeps us from admitting the sin that we have growing. Where we seek to justify, why because our pride says our sin is not as bad as their sin so therefore I don't have to address my sin because their sin is worse than mine so I can ignore mine for as long as I want as long as I've never gotten to the point where my sin is as bad as theirs." [45:21] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

4. "True humility is not thinking less of ourselves but thinking of ourselves less. Because our natural tendency would go, okay, let me kill the pride in me so I'm going to think less of myself. I'm going to go, man, you are, hey, you're really not that good. Like, you're really not that talented. And so we're more belittling ourself." [48:08] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

5. "The only thing we bring to the table, we said it a few weeks ago, was the sin necessary for Jesus to come. Right. That's what we bring to the table. And so he's gone and let's solve that that pride by seeing ourself rightly and seeing him for who he is. Because we get nothing apart from him." [29:52] (21 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

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