You’ve probably heard the quote, “pride goes before the fall”, or perhaps you’ve been told, “don’t get puffed up with pride,” when you’ve succeeded in something. We hear the word “pride” thrown around pretty often in our day-to-day lives. But what does it actually mean?
The dictionary defines pride as “confidence and satisfaction in oneself”. The antonym of pride, humility, is defined as “the quality of having a modest or low view of one’s importance”. In the eyes of the world, pride and self-confidence are of great significance. However, we learn in Scripture that for Christians it should be completely the opposite! Jesus loves to take things that seem obvious to our human minds and flip them upside down.
Luke 18:14b says, “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted”. Without context, this verse can be pretty confusing, so let’s do a little rewinding and see if we can make some sense of it.
Breaking it down
This excerpt of Luke 18 (verses 9-14) is relaying the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Both the Pharisee and the tax collector have gone up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee stood alone and prayed to God, thanking Him that he wasn’t like all the other people. We can quickly see that his “prayer of thanksgiving” is really just a poorly disguised boast. His prayer is more directed to the people around him than to God.
The tax collector’s prayer, on the other hand, is one of repentance and demonstrates true humility. He’s so aware of his humanity and his fallen nature that he is unable to even look up to heaven! Jesus informs us at the end of the parable that it was only the tax collector who went home justified before God. We can conclude, then, that humility is important to God. And if it’s important to God then it should be important to us too!
Through Scripture, we have been given the perfect example of humility: Jesus. Philippians 2 is a great illustration of this. Philippians 2:5-7 tells us, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness”. Jesus was perfect, God in nature, and yet he humbled himself and became a servant to sinners! Jesus declares in Mark 10:45 that He came to serve and not to be served. This is the commandment that we have been given as well in Philippians 2. There are no better footsteps for us to follow on the path of humility than those of Jesus Christ!
Pride makes us defensive and stubborn. We are commanded to give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58), but we are unable to do that when we’re consumed with ourselves. And contrary to what we typically believe, pride will not bring us joy or satisfaction. Through humbling ourselves, we can be freed from the hold that pride has on us. We are free to love and serve others. I remind myself often that humility is actually a freeing gift that God has given us! Humbling ourselves brings genuine relief because things are the way that God intended them to be.
Now that we’ve spent a good amount of time on the first part of Luke 18:14, let’s take a look at the second part: “those who humble themselves will be exalted”. To be exalted is to be lifted up by God. 1 Peter 5:6 states, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time”. This verse is referring to heavenly blessings rather than earthly ones. As hard as it is, sometimes we must give up earthly comforts and desires in order to enjoy them in our eternal home. God will lift us up at the proper time (in His timing) if we humble ourselves before Him. It’s important to note that “humble” is an action verb. We are not told to be humbled, we are told to humble ourselves. It’s an action that we have to choose over and over again.
Live it out!
I struggle with pride regularly. It’s a battle I will have to face day after day, probably for the rest of my life! However, I have compiled a list of small ways that I can practice humility and I’ve put it up on my wall where I can see it every day. I would encourage you to do the same! Here’s my list:
- I can humble myself by apologizing and admitting when I do wrong. Confessing and apologizing for our wrongdoings is one of the most helpful ways to repair relationships that have been damaged by pride.
- I can humble myself by taking constructive criticism graciously. “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but whoever hates correction is stupid”- Proverbs 12:1.
- I can humble myself by forgiving others and letting go of bitterness. As hard as it is, forgiving others when they’ve hurt us is a wonderful way to show humility.
- I can humble myself by giving God all the glory when I succeed. Everything that I have has been given to me by God; the credit all belongs to Him!
- I can humble myself by getting rid of my judgemental attitude. I find myself resembling a Pharisee more often than I’d like to admit.
- I can humble myself by serving and doing the jobs that no one wants to do. If Jesus can wash feet, then surely I can wash the dishes!
Ultimately, the most important thing to remember is that it’s not about us. We were created to bring glory to God. He must become greater, we must become less (John 3:30.)