Pride

It appears to me that one item that is difficult to relinquish control of is pride.

As I think about my life, there are times where having pride and taking pride produced great results. Think of how you feel when you see something through, or when you create something that helps others. It is natural to have a sense of pride in those moments.

Holistically, however, it tends to cause more areas of struggle than moments of growth. Scripture reminds us in 1 John 2:16 that pride is one of the primary tools of the evil one, so recognizing that he is using that to take us out should put us on high alert. I’ve been thinking about why John asks us to be on alert with pride. One might think that the ability to contribute to the world and to be proud of our work is a net good for the world, and it is. The difficulty is that if we get addicted to controlling outcomes and believing that it will equal a safer, more joyous life, then we are equating our perception of the world for God’s structure of the world. Over time that may cause more dissonance than joy. Therefore, focusing on our own perceptions, being prideful of our own accomplishment, will get in the way of us seeing the greater whole, our role in it and a far deeper duty.

That leads us to the big question: How can I surrender pride in my life? This is where turning to God’s Word is a practice every believer must have.

In Luke, Jesus shares a practical example of what it looks like to surrender pride. Following His instruction, we see that denying ourselves is the step that must be made. This is much easier said than done since the world teaches us we should always be looking out for number one. However, when we make the choice to surrender the pride in our life and opt for His way, it brings something to us that so many people are searching for – peace!

Surrendering our pride and following Christ is the way to experience the peace that passes all understanding in our daily walk. This takes a tremendous amount of self-awareness. If this is an area of struggle for you, confess it to a fellow believer and begin soaking it in prayer together. This is a key pillar of surrendering that needs a high degree of intentionality for anyone wanting to grow in their walk with Christ.

Questions to Consider

1. What is an area of life where you are the most prideful? What is one step you could take to make an improvement?
2. How would you describe what "picking up your cross and following Jesus" looked like in your life over the last 72 hours?