In 1984 I was fresh out of Bible college, just 21 years old and ready to take on the world for Jesus. I had spent four hard years and thousands of dollars earning a degree. I was hired as a Music Pastor in a small church outside San Francisco and when I moved into my new office, I proudly hung my degree on the wall. This is what I worked so hard for, and now I had finally made it.
A couple of months later, a lady in our church, who owned the local Christian Book Store, handed me a neatly wrapped gift on a Sunday morning. I was moved. I thought to myself she must love the music so much that she wanted to thank me with a thoughtful expression of a personal gift. When I got home that afternoon I carefully opened up the present to discover that it was a book by Charles Swindol titled, "Improving Your Serve." As I opened the front cover, I noticed a hand written note on the inside which said, "Dear David: I pray the words on these pages will impact you for years to come as you learn the art of serving." What? My heart sunk as I realized that she was telling me I needed to learn how to serve. How dare she!
That began the process of the Lord developing humility in me by dealing with my Pride. It was a painful and yes, humiliating process, but one I wouldn't trade for anything. I thank God for that dear lady who took the effort to confront me about my pride. That day was my first taste of humble pie. I'm still a work in progress like everyone else. It's hard to overcome and if left unchecked, will derail every area of our lives.
James 4:6 says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” There are 5 major reasons why pride is so dangerous.
- Pride overvalues what we can do and devalues what God can do.
- It puts more value on man’s limited ability rather than God's unlimited ability.
- It promises to reward us with privilege and status only to end up robbing us of the value we truly possess in Christ.
- It has an insatiable appetite for more that is never satisfied and only leaves us empty.
- It says “I don’t need God. I’ve got me!”
The opposite of pride is humility. James 4:10 tells us that if we humble ourselves before the Lord, He will lift us up. Pride tricks us into thinking that it will elevate us, but in reality, it brings us down. Let God do the lifting. He does a much better job.
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