My Own Battle...with Pride

“I have never met a man who has given me as much trouble as myself”, were the words of DL Moody, the great preacher. If there is something I can relate to, it is exactly that statement. I mean, I spend quite a great deal of my life hours with this person called me. I know myself very well. There are things that happen within my mind that would even shock the devil himself. One of those things, I confess, is that I have a temptation of thinking too highly of myself. Before I go further, please be assured that this is not a self-pity show. Nor is it my intention to hang my dirty laundry on the public square. I am simply using myself as an illustration; it’s a teaching tool for all of us. Because I can guarantee you that every Christian saint struggles with pride. In fact, to deny the presence of this iniquity is the first sign that you are already infected. Before I provide us with practical steps to deal with this lingering setback, allow me to confront those subtle signs of the spirit of self-exaltation within your Christian heart.

Too much self-awareness

There is a certain amount of self-consciousness that is good for the soul. That is not my point of interest. My issue is when you are always keeping watch of who you are relative to other people; highlighting every good deed you do for others, and also taking note of everything that people say or don't say to you. This is the same attitude that always suspects people of gossiping about them. As if everyone’s life revolves around you. It is when your own mind convinces you that you are too important to be ignored. When there is a matter to discuss, people must get to hear what you have to say, because you believe you are such a special person in your community, or in your church, or even marriage. It’s an overzealous sense of self importance, which is born out of overestimation of one's abilities.

Comparison

I think this is where the demon of pride manifests itself the most, even among the best of us. It is when you judge and measure the strength of your spirituality by what other people do, especially their failures in this area. There is also another pitfall of looking at what you have in terms of material possessions and achievements, say in education, for example, and use that to elevate yourself into a somewhat superior position to your fellow comrades in the Lord.

Hatred for criticism/correction

I have often realised that the reason I hate so much to hear somebody tell me that I am wrong is because I think I know better than the next man. "Who does he think he is?" It takes a long stretch of humility and maturity to listen when people criticise. Indeed, there are negative comments that come out of bad intentions, yet I still hold to the belief that oftentimes God uses our critics to humble and to show us our blind spots before we can be corrected back to the path of righteousness. Hence we must all learn the art of humility in terms of listening to those who disapprove of our behaviors. Hatred for correction is also in the same company as refusing to seek advice before making a hard decision. Somehow, you judge that what you have decided is the only right decision, and what anyone else says doesn’t matter.

Now, enough about the bad side of yourself that you already know about…what could possibly be the solution to this?

     1.) Beware of your strengths

Remember those things that you are good at. That thing that everyone calls you for because you can do it with your eyes closed. Those are your strengths – the very gateway to being proud. Because those special abilities are what you use to get people to do what you want, when you want it – a tool of manipulation. That is a snare to your Christian fruitfulness. The proper way is to view whatever unusual gift as a God-given device to serve other people, not to promote yourself. Gratitude is also another step towards humility. I mean, God chose you among the rest and gave you what He gave you not because of anything you did, but it’s a product of His Sovereign grace and will.

    2.) Be suspicious of praise

I have to admit, there is nothing that encourages me than to hear someone praise me for something good that I do. It feels good to know that my noble efforts are being recognized. Yet, therein lurks another danger, that of self-glorification. Our human nature cannot properly handle praise from fellow men – inevitably so. Hence, you do well to take this counsel: work hard to deflect every admiration back to the mercies of God. As a matter of fact, the Cross of Jesus; what He did when He opened your blind eyes, must be enough to convince you that there is not a single ounce of applause that you deserve. You must be able to join Paul in saying, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” 1 Corinthians 15:10

Conclusion: Fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters of this great kingdom. Let us live our lives looking unto the ultimate example of meekness; Jesus Christ the righteous, “who being in the very nature of God, made Himself into nothing, taking the form of a servant” (Phil 2:7). May we therefore, rise up to walk among unbelievers, not with a spirit of superiority but with an attitude of being fellow beggars who are there to tell them where to find bread. It is a lifetime battle (the struggle with vainglory), yet it is a winnable one. “Resist the spirit of the devil and it will flee from you.”

Sinothi Ncube

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