Being Prideful

How often have you heard the term "take pride in your work"? Whether it was in school or at home I'm sure we have all been told this by a parent or teacher at one time or another. We want to encourage children to do their best and to take pride in everything they do, but we need to make sure we are not teaching them to do it in order to gain recognition. How easy it can be for us to become prideful and arrogant, yet the Bible tells us we are to be humble. Jesus was the perfect example of humility and Philippians 2 is a great reminder of this.

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

There are different kinds of pride positive and negative. Are you proud of your children's accomplishments or the fact that you can see they are decent people? How about being proud of your coworkers for working hard to accomplish a goal together? Perhaps you or a friend were able to achieve a personal goal. These are all healthy prides, but God warns us to be careful that we do not become too prideful. We do not want to become boastful or regard ourselves better than anyone else due to our accomplishments. We want to make sure we remain humble and are able to swallow our pride when we need to.

How do we avoid being prideful?

1) We become less concerned about ourselves and more concerned about others & God

2) Always do your best to bring honor and glory to God

3) Apologize when necessary don't allow your pride to stand in the way of a relationship

4) Remain humble

5) Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you

Gods words of wisdom:

Galatians 6:3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

Obadiah 1:3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, 'Who can bring me down to the ground?' Though you soar like the eagle and make your nest among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord.

James 4:6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

Our challenge is to humble ourselves and realize we are not superior to anyone and make sure our efforts and hard work benefit others not just ourselves.

Jeremiah 9:23-24

This is what the Lord says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the Lord.

Written by: Jill Theriault

Crossroads Coaching - @crossroadscoachingongodstime