Break the Power of Pride, Part 2

CBN.com I kid you not: At this moment, Oliver (my cat) is walking across my desk.  It’s almost as though he wants me to soften my depiction of his pride-filled past.  As he rubs his face against mine, he has no clue that I know what he’s up to. How ironic.

If you missed part one of this article, read it here.

Some of you wonder why I wrote a two-part series on pride so near to Thanksgiving Day.  Here’s why: In order for us to be thankful, we must be humble.

Prideful people see no need to give thanks.  They think that they’ve done it all. They forget the fact that God created them – not the opposite.  Pride prevents people from giving God the credit.  Pride rips common sense out of people.  That reminds me of Oliver…

Oliver ruled the house for a few years.  Pride inflated his ego and deflated his common sense: he attempted antics that could have used up an exponential number of his “nine lives.”  Nothing seemed too big for him!  Then, things changed.  Things changed quickly: Chance and Lucy arrived after being rescued from death. 

Our rescue dogs, Chance (a.k.a. Choo-Choo) and Lucy, shocked the confident kitty’s senses.

Wait a moment.  Did I mention that Choo-Choo is a rescued lab mix of approximately seventy pounds?  Did I say that Lucy is a lab mix and tips the scales at approximately eighty?  Yes, Oliver’s twelve pounds suddenly seemed pretty puny.  In a flash, Oliver wasn’t the big guy: he was the little guy. 

How long did Oliver’s humility last?  Later, I’ll answer that question.  For now, let’s focus on Oliver’s problem (pride) and solution (humility).   To do this, we need to consider and answer five typical questions about pride:

1. How does God view pride?

God hates pride.  Pride is when we take credit for something God has done.  It’s like insulting God.  (How would you feel if you did something yet someone stole the credit?)  Only God deserves full credit and glory for all the good things in our lives.  When God sees pride, He hates it.  (If you have time, click here to read about God’s reaction to the prideful, real-life prince of Tyre.  That’ll convince you.)

We may fool other people with our pride and glimmering façade, but we never, never fool God.  In fact, our Heavenly Father has see-through vision.  (i.e. He peers within the non-Christian, prideful VIP’s, and sees pride-filled souls that look ugly, poor, gross, foolish, and destitute because of sin.)

Often, when people work hard, do well, and receive a reward, they think they’ve done it all.  In reality, for whatever good work we do, God provided the strength to work, the opportunity, the timing, the people who brought the opportunity, the ideas and creativity to complete the tasks, the health to do it, etc.

2. How do we grow humility yet shrink pride? 

We humble ourselves when we realize who we are in light of who God is.  Here are a few ways to do this:

• Study the attributes of God. 
• Read Genesis 1. 
• Look at the stars and realize that your human eye only sees a few stars that comprise the unfathomably vast galaxies. 
• Go to a nursing home and try to reverse aging and stop death.

All of the aforementioned are just a tiny sample of what will remind us of God’s supremacy.   Indeed, we must give God glory!  We must realize that He is God and not us.  We can do nothing apart from Him.  I’ll let God’s Word explain it: “Humble yourselves [feeling very insignificant] in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you [He will lift you up and make your lives significant].” (

, AMP)

3. What does pride do to people? 

Pride is dangerous: When pride invades, prejudice pervades.  And favoritism flourishes.  Favoritism and prejudice are “cousin sins” (cousins) rooted in pride.  Prideful people superiorly esteem themselves and inferiorly treat others.  They often possess some kind of prejudice because they believe they deserve better treatment than other kinds of people.  (Sometimes, the afflicted possess pride, too.  They mirror the treatment they’ve received and restart the unhealthy cycle.)  Favoritism and prejudice are horrible. 

God’s Word says: “For God does not show favoritism.” (

, AMP) Since we are all loved by God, we have no reason to promote ourselves yet demote others.  To bring this point to life, I’ve come up with three illustrations:

Scenario #1:
Picture an individual who is financially poor yet spiritually rich in faith in Jesus Christ.  Lots of people see such a believer and make fun of him/her. The world would say that he/she is a failure.  But do you know what God sees? God sees him/her as His beautiful, wealthy, spiritual child whom He absolutely adores. 

Scenario #2:
Pretend that you’re at a posh, celebrity-filled party where you feel lonely and utterly ostracized.  Celebrities puff up with pride and attract all the attention.  All attendees ignore you and focus on (fill in this blank with your favorite celebrity).

But, wait.  Look!  Suddenly, Jesus enters!  With indescribable, infinite love overflowing, He reaches out.  To whom does he reach?  He reaches out to each person lovingly and equally. 

Scenario #3:
Now, imagine that the President of the United States and you simultaneously pick up your cell phones and dial God.  Which call does God answer first?  He would respond with the same urgency to both of you. 

The accompanying stories were imagined, but the premise is a true promise: God never shows favoritism.  We need to eliminate pride, which fosters favoritism.

4. What do we need to remember when we are tempted to take credit for what God has done in our lives? 

We need to remember that God made us.  “Know (perceive, recognize, and understand with approval) that the Lord is God! It is He Who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]! We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” (

, AMP)

5. Will things ever be fair? Proud people seem to run things.

Yes!  In Heaven, everything will be perfect!  (Indeed, this world is not fair.  But this is not the only world.)

Heaven is just around the corner for every believer.  (Click here to learn how to head to Heaven.) In Heaven, everything will be made right.  Prideful people won’t rule.  The humble will be honored.  You see, God’s plan is to reward His kids in Heaven.  That’s why He wants us to shift our eyes from the temporary earth to the eternal Heaven.

That means that there is no reason to take ungodly pride in our possessions because only Heavenly rewards will remain.  This earth will one day be gone.  Jesus said this, “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (

, NIV)

Yes, we’ll receive far superior rewards in Heaven!  God reminds us to do this: “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” (

, NASB)

So, is your pride at an unhealthy level?  Do you need to be humbled?  I do.  I so desire to empty myself at Jesus’ feet and humble myself completely.  I realize that if I don’t humble myself, someone else will.   

Sometimes, I need to be humbled several times to get the point.  In fact, that’s what happened to Oliver: he’s been humbled several times.  But the difference is that he never gets the point. Yes, after a while, Oliver always forgets about being humbled.  He always relapses into his prior condition of pride.

Soon after he was first humbled, he decided to face the dogs.  He thought, “I’ll show ‘em.  I can ‘take ‘em on.’”  He flared his whiskers and quickened his paws.

With courage of an Old West cowboy, the cat prepped for the big fight.  He puffed up his super-fine fur.  Like a revved up engine, he groaned, sputtered, and hissed.  Then, he swiftly made the approach.  He ran.  Then, he took his two, fluffy paws and hit the dogs on their big, wet noses!  He swatted and spat. 

Did it work?  The dogs only sneezed and bristled.  Otherwise, the dogs seemed unfazed.  Did Oliver give up?  Nope. 

To this day, he attacks, plays with the dogs’ tails, and meows in their floppy Labrador ears.  Then, he often gloats and sprawls in a sphinx-like pose.  (See picture above.)  Little does he know that he’d be dead if the dogs simply sat on him!  

When we try to puff up on pride, we are far sillier than Oliver.  We need to learn our lesson and not follow in Oliver’s stubborn paw prints.

God’s Word includes this warning: “Don’t be so naïve and self-confident.  You’re not exempt.  You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else.  Forget about self-confidence; it’s useless.  Cultivate God-confidence.” (I Cor. 10:12, The Message)

God-confidence, placing all of our hope in His abilities, far surpasses mere self-confidence.  God gives us His strength so that His power flows through us.  Now, that’s what I call power and success.   

We need to make a choice: to be proud or to be wowed (grateful to God for what He has done).  You and I better choose the latter instead of “climbing up the ladder” solely for power.  Otherwise, we’ll fall flat on our faces. 

Let’s replace pride with a ride: a ride on Jesus’ shoulders.  While He gives us all the strength and courage we need, we will give God the credit He deserves to receive.

 

Note from the Author:
Connected! isn’t a typical monthly column. Think of it as an e-mail.  Feel free to reply. Reply to: stacieruth@brightlightministry.com. After all, I want to be a friend and introduce you to my Best Friend, Jesus Christ.  We’ll cover issues relevant to our generation. Most of all, we’ll connect with Christ. If you don’t know how to connect with Him yet, click here.

---

Stacie Ruth Stoelting and Bright Light Ministry share how to have victory over tragedies and trials. She loves Jesus!  And she loves to help people.  (She knows what it feels like to “wistfully wish for help.”  That memory helps to ignite her passion to help others.) At 23, she already has experience:  At 15, Stacie Ruth wrote Still Holding Hands: Bonus Tips for Caregivers & Tips for Helping Families Facing Alzheimer’s, depicting her grandparents’ romance, and victory over Alzheimer’s. Celebrities (i.e. Pat Robertson) endorsed it and/or Bright Light Ministry.  At 20, she sang for President Bush.  In dramatic programs for all ages, she speaks, acts, sings and entertainingly inspires. Now, she is writing another book ( Whatever Happened to My Faith?).  Feel free to invite her to speak and/or sing at your church or school. Visit www.brightlightministry.com.