Pride

You can’t usually see it, and by the time you do, it has often done great damage. The Bible speaks strongly when it says in Proverbs 16:5, “Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD.” Self-centered pride —as opposed to pride in the accomplishments of your children, for example— is rarely the subject of sermons, and few books or articles are written on the subject. Yet it was pride that brought sin to earth after a prideful angel said in his heart, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High” (Isaiah 14:13, 14). Pride in the heart of Lucifer led to rebellion, and that rebellion ultimately caused the death of Jesus and the ruin of the world. Pride is satisfaction at one’s own accomplishments, an inflated opinion of one’s own importance.

Pride is bound up with self-centeredness, ego, conceit, and self-sufficiency, and it is destructive. In other words, pride is antithetical to the gospel of Jesus, who “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). Pride is self-seeking, and when led by a desire for self-elevation, recognition, or praise, people can be led into some unfortunate places.

Pride says, “Me first. I want it my way.

My thoughts are best. I am right. I won’t back down.” In the book Early Writings, Ellen White said, “If pride and selfishness were laid aside, five minutes would remove most difficulties.”* Fortunately, the statement implies that pride may be laid aside. Focusing on the life, ministry, and death of Jesus is the cure for pride.

Studying the life of One who came to serve rather than to be served will change a heart. It is by beholding that we become changed.

Looking to Jesus will cause us to echo the thoughts of John the Baptist, who said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).