There’s a term I use for unseen dangers in a man’s life, landmines. Landmines are those actions, behaviors and habits which have the ability to be destructive and harmful not only to themselves but others. I consider pride one of the deadliest of these landmines. Like all landmines, what makes them so dangerous is their ability to be so well hidden.
Not long ago, I felt victim to this landmine. I found myself resentful toward certain people because I was setting a standard I myself created. I was convicted of this when reading through some passages and made a deliberate decision to repent, seek God’s guidance and work on shielding myself from it reoccurring.
That’s the problem with pride. It’s one of those sins which never really goes away. It tends to keep coming back trying to get a hold. Acknowledging this keeps us in a place of humility. During all this I discovered a way to overcome pride.
Three ways to defeat and keep pride in check:
- Acknowledge your sin of pride and repent. Pride comes in various forms but first we need to define what pride is. Some see a positive sense of “pride” as “A feeling that you respect yourself and deserve to be respected by others.” Instead of using the word “pride”, I prefer to see this as valuing yourself as God values you. On the other hand, pride is defined as “A feeling that you are more important or better than other people”.
With this in mind, I like Ron MacDonald’s approach of segmenting pride into four key areas: Pride of Spirituality, Pride of Knowledge, Pride of Power and Pride of Appearance. - Reverence for God and Christ: I used to think that approaching the throne of God was like meeting up with a friend. I had casual prayers and felt this was a genuine way to have a relationship with God. Man was I wrong. Yes, God is approachable and created us for relationship wth Him but we must never forget who He is, what He is capable of and what He has done. We must approach God with humble hearts and recognize we are nothing but lost and broken without Him. We were once considered “enemies of God” and yet he still loved us.
- Expect victory but live vigilantly: Christ is merciful and graceful, and as such, when we repent of our sin and fall on our knees before him, he will restore and lift us up. This means we must stay in communion with him. We must seek daily to be in His will and submit to His authority. Without him we can do nothing and this is how we guard our heart from letting pride seep back in.
FX3 Challenge:
Read:
Read and meditate on Daniel 5:20-21. What do these verses say to you?
Pray:
What area in your life contains a hidden landmine of pride?
Meditate / Make It Real:
What will you do to disarm and remove this prideful landmine?
