Becoming More Like Jesus: HumilitySample

Being Honest About Pride

So where does humility begin? It begins with recognizing the depths of pride in the human soul. C.S. Lewis once wrote, "If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud."

However, recognition of our own pride is a slow process for most. But why is recognition of our own pride so difficult? Because we can clearly see pride in others but struggle to see its existence in our own lives.

To this point, Lewis continues, "There is a vice of which no man in the world is free; which everyone in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people... ever imagine that they are guilty themselves... the vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility."

The wisdom of Proverbs can help us take a first step in recognizing and accepting the true depths of our own pride, opening the door to its opposite virtue: Humility. Proverbs 11:2 warns us, "When pride comes, then comes disgrace; but wisdom is with the humble." And Proverbs 29:23 says, "A person's pride will bring humiliation, but one who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor." Continuing this thought around being "lowly in spirit," Proverbs 16:19 instructs us, "It is better to be of a lowly spirit among the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud." Indeed, these verses are just a small sample of the wisdom God offers to those who are willing to recognize the depths of their own pride.

At the intersection of pride and humility, what can we observe?

Observation #3: A humble person learns through grace and a posture of surrender the importance of continuously acknowledging and eradicating pride from daily life.

What should be our first step in eradicating pride from daily life? Repentance. And so this is where we will turn our attention to tomorrow.