Pride

Proverbs 11:2 (NLT)
"Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom."

Pride can hold us back in so many areas of our life. I know in my own it has kept me in debt, hurt personal relationships, and most of all hurt my relationship with God and prevented me from following his will in my life. Pride is the opposite of humility and can only bring destruction to our lives. So, how does pride destroy your life, what does humility mean, and how do we eliminate pride from our lives?

How does being PRIDEFUL destroy your life?

1. Brings discontent into your life
Proverbs 13:10 (NLT)
"Pride leads to arguments; those who take advice are wise."

When we allow pride to rule us, we can never be wrong and never humble ourselves to the leadership of someone else. God didn't make us all-knowing and therefore, we sometimes need to seek advice and information from others. Pride can prevent this from happening.

2. Causes discontent with the Lord
Proverbs 16:5,18 (NLT)
"5)The Lord despises pride; be assured that the proud will be punished. 18) Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall."

The saying "pride comes before fall" is so true. God is sovereign and wants us to realize that. When we let pride control our decisions, we remove God from the equation and put our flesh in charge. Removing God from any area of your life, especially decision making, can only lead to destruction.

3. Prevents growth in the Lord
Luke 18:9-14 (NLT)
"Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: "Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: 'I thank you, God, that I am not a sinner like everyone else. For I don’t cheat, I don’t sin, and I don’t commit adultery. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.' But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, 'O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.' I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.""

When pride settles in our hearts, it prevents us from growing in our walk with the Lord. When we aren't growing we are falling away, there is no dormant in between.

What is HUMILITY?

Isaiah 66:1-2 (NLT)
"This is what the Lord says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you ever build me a temple as good as that? Could you ever build a dwelling place for me? My hands have made both heaven and earth, and they are mine. I, the Lord, have spoken! I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word.""

The phrase "tremble at my word" in the scripture above really captures the idea of humility. How could we ever think ourselves better or even halfway equal to the Lord who rules over the heavens and the earth? We can't, plain and simple. We will never be comparable to him and therefore should never think ourselves able to make decisions about our lives without him. Realizing this is humility. When we fear God, our hearts have been humbled.

How do we ELIMINATE PRIDE from our lives?

1 Corinthians 1:26-31 (NLT)
"Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy[a] when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. Therefore, as the Scriptures say, "If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.""

1. By living in the presence of God
2. By allowing God to break our hearts
3. By being a light for God

It's a step-by-step process to remove pride and replace it with humility. Like with any other problem the first step is admitting that pride is in your life. Once we do this, we can step into God's presence and allow him to break our hearts. Once we become broken in his presence, he can fill us with his holy spirit and we are able to shine humbly to the world with his guiding voice all along the way.