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The Root of Everything Evil
- Most people do not consider themselves proud or vulnerable to pride. Yet, thisis one of the major categories of sin the Bible says is in each of our hearts.
- 1 John 2:15-17 (NASB) “Do not love the world or anything in the world. Ifanyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everythingin the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting ofwhat he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world. Theworld and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God livesforever.”
- Pride is the first sin and the most serious sin. Pride is our greatest problem.Not the devil. Not low self-esteem. Not our upbringing or injustices suffered.
God Hates Pride
- God hates pride; we must learn to hate what God hates and to love what Godloves. How much do you hate pride?
- Proverbs 8:13 “To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evilbehaviour and perverse speech.”
- Proverbs 11:2 “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comeswisdom.”
- Proverbs 16:5 “The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They willnot go unpunished.”
- Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
- God is not out to hurt your pride he is out to kill your pride.
Pride is Serious
- God is opposed to the proud. You don’t want God as your opponent.
- James 4:6 “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “Godopposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.””
- 1 Peter 5:5 “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older.All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘Godopposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'”
- Luke 14:11 “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he whohumbles himself will be exalted.””
- The way up is the way down. Completely the opposite of the world. Humbleyourself and you will be exalted; exalt yourself and you will be humbled.
Humility is Critical to Receiving God’s Grace
- Proverbs 11:2 “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comeswisdom.”
- Proverbs 15:33 “The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comesbefore honour.”
- Proverbs 18:12 “Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comesbefore honour.”
- Proverbs 29:23 “A man’s pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gainshonour.”
- Isaiah 57:15 “For this is what the high and lofty One says—he who lives forever,whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who iscontrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive theheart of the contrite.”
- 1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he maylift you up in due time.”
- Isaiah 23:9 “The LORD Almighty planned it, to bring low the pride of all glory andto humble all who are renowned on the earth.”
- God resists the proud in order to show them their need of him. This results inhis glory.
- 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 “To keep me from becoming conceited because of thesesurpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, amessenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lordto take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the moregladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. Thatis why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, inpersecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
- We must change the source of our lives. You are weak whether you know it ornot. Abiding is how you live the Christian life.
What Humility is Not
1. Humility is not denying the gifts and graces God has given you.
- It is important to know what you are gifted in. Realize you are called tohelp and serve others.
- Humility is not putting yourself down. It is being sober in your assessmentand walking in the acknowledgment of God’s grace. It is using what God hasgiven you for his glory.
2. Humility is not a lack of direction, desire and godly ambition.
- It is not wrong to want to be used of God or advance in the kingdom ofGod. God wants to use you to do great things for him. God is not glorifiedby a losing or defeatist mentality.
3. Humility is not denying the work of God within you or in the church.
4. Humility is not the pursuit of mediocrity.
- You should pursue excellence but not with the motivation of callingattention to yourself or trying to impress people.
- Humility allows you to enjoy the gifts of God without trying to impressothers.
5. Humility is not denying or backing away from the truth.
- You are called to be righteous and humble. You are responsible to speakthe truth in love without being self righteously critical.
Pride is Deceptive
- The devil does not come up to us with a red flag and tell us we are proud.
- Jeremiah 49:16 “The terror you inspire and the pride of your heart have deceivedyou, you who live in the clefts of the rocks, who occupy the heights of the hill.Though you build your nest as high as the eagle’s, from there I will bring youdown,” declares the LORD.”
- We need help to see the fruits of pride in our lives. What is the real issuebehind your behaviour? Are you examining your heart and motives for pride?What really needs to change beyond outward behaviour?
- Proverbs 16:2 “All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed bythe LORD.”
- Proverbs 21:2 “All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs theheart.”
- Humility is the door to true freedom. How do you deal with things in your life?At the symptom level, problem level, or root level?
- John 8:31-36 “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold tomy teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, andthe truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are Abraham’sdescendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that weshall be set free?” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sinsis a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but ason belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be freeindeed.”
Fifty Fruits of Pride
1. I tend to be self sufficient in the way I live my life. I don’t live with aconstant awareness that my every breath is dependent upon the will of God. Itend to think I have enough strength, ability and wisdom to live and manage mylife. My practice of the spiritual disciplines in inconsistent and superficial. Idon’t like to ask others for help.
2. I am often anxious about my life and the future. I tend not to trust God andrarely experience his abiding and transcendent peace in my soul. I have a hardtime sleeping at night because of fearful thoughts and burdens I carry.
3. I am overly self-conscious. I tend to replay in my mind how I did, what Isaid, how I am coming across to others, etc. I am very concerned about whatpeople think of me. I think about these things constantly.
4. I fear man more than God. I am afraid of others and make decisions aboutwhat I will say or do based upon this fear. I am afraid to take a stand forthings that are right. I am concerned with how people will react to me orperceive my actions or words. I don’t often think about God’s opinion in amatter and rarely think there could be consequences for disobeying him. Iprimarily seek the approval of man and not of God.
5. I often feel insecure. I don’t want to try new things or step out intouncomfortable situations because I’m afraid I’ll fail or look foolish. I ameasily embarrassed.
6. I regularly compare myself to others. I am performance oriented. I feel thatI have greater worth if I do well.
7. I am self-critical. I tend to be a perfectionist. I can’t stand for little thingsto be wrong because they reflect poorly on me. I have a hard time putting mymistakes behind me.
8. I desire to receive credit and recognition for what I do. I like people to seewhat I do and let me know that they noticed. I feel hurt or offended whenthey don’t. I am overly concerned about my reputation and hate beingmisunderstood.
9. I want people to be impressed with me. I like to make my accomplishmentsknown.
10. I tend to be deceptive about myself. I find myself lying to preserve myreputation. I find myself hiding the truth about myself, especially about sins,weaknesses, etc. I don’t want people to know who I really am.
11. I am selfishly ambitious. I really want to get ahead. I like having a position ortitle. I far prefer leading to following.
12. I am overly competitive. I always want to win or come out on top and itbothers me when I don’t.
13. I like to be the center of attention and will say or do things to draw attentionto myself.
14. I like to talk, especially about myself or persons or things I am involved with.I want people to know what I am doing or thinking. I would rather speak thanlisten. I have a hard time being succinct.
15. I am self-serving. When asked to do something, I find myself asking, “Howwill doing this help me, or will I be inconvenienced?”
16. I am not very excited about seeing or making others successful. I tend tofeel envious, jealous or critical towards those who are doing well or beinghonoured.
17. I feel special or superior because of what I have or do. For example:
my house
my neighbourhood
my physical giftings
my spiritual giftings
my intellect or education
being a Christian
my position or job
my car
my salary
my looks
18. I think highly of myself. In relation to others I typically see myself as moremature and more gifted. In most situations, I have more to offer than otherseven though I may not say so. I don’t consider myself average or ordinary.
19. I tend to give myself credit for who I am and what I accomplish. I onlyoccasionally think about or recognize that all that I am or have comes fromGod.
20. I tend to be self-righteous. I can think that I really have something to offerGod. I would never say so, but I think God did well to save me. I seldom thinkabout or recognize my complete depravity and helplessness apart from God. Iregularly focus on the sins of others. I don’t credit God for any degree ofholiness in my life.
21. I feel deserving. I think I deserve what I have. In fact, I think I ought tohave more considering how well I have lived or in light of all I have done.
22. I often feel ungrateful. I tend to grumble about what I have or my lot in life.
23. I find myself wallowing in self-pity. I am consumed with how I am treated byGod and others. I tend to feel mistreated or misunderstood. I seldomrecognize or sympathize with what’s going on with others around me because Ifeel that I have it worse than they do.
24. I can be jealous or envious of others abilities, possessions, positions, oraccomplishments. I want to be what others are or want to have what othershave. I am envious of what others have thinking that I should have it ordeserve it. I find it hard to rejoice with others when they are blessed byGod.
25. I am pretty insensitive to others. I feel that some people just aren’t worthcaring about. I have a hard time showing compassion.
26. I have a know-it-all attitude. I am impressed by my own knowledge. I feellike there isn’t much I can learn from other people, especially those lessmature than me.
27. I have a hard time listening to ordinary people. I listen better to those Irespect or people I want to leave with a good impression. I don’t honestlylisten when someone else is speaking because I am usually planning what I amgoing to say next.
28. I like to reveal my own mind. I have an answer for practically every situation.I feel compelled to balance everyone else out.
29. I interrupt people regularly. I don’t let people finish what they are saying.
30. I feel compelled to stop people when they start to share something with me Ialready know.
31. I find it hard to admit it when I don’t know something. When someone asksme something I don’t know, I will make up an answer rather than admit I don’tknow.
32. I don’t get much out of teaching. I tend to evaluate a speaker rather thanmy own life. I grumble in my heart about hearing something a second time.
33. I listen to teaching with other people in mind. I constantly think of thosefolks who need to hear the teaching and wish they were here.
34. I’m not very open to input. I don’t pursue correction for my life. I tend tobe unteachable and slow to repent when corrected. I don’t really seecorrection as a positive thing. I am offended when people probe themotivations of my heart or seek to adjust me.
35. I have a hard time admitting that I am wrong. I find myself covering up orexcusing my sins. It is hard for me to confess my sins to others or to ask forforgiveness.
36. I view correction as an intrusion into my privacy rather than an instrument ofGod for my welfare. I can’t identify anyone who would feel welcome to correctme.
37. I resent people who attempt to correct me. I don’t respond with gratefulnessand sincere appreciation for their input. Instead I am tempted to accuse themand dwell on their faults. I get bitter and withdraw.
38. When corrected, I become contentious and argumentative. I don’t takepeople’s observations seriously. I minimize and make excuses or giveexplanations.
39. I am easily angered and offended. I don’t like being crossed or disagreedwith. I find myself thinking, “I can’t believe they did that to me.” I oftenfeel wronged.
40. I have “personality conflicts” with others. I have a hard time getting alongwith certain kinds of people. People regularly tell me that they struggle withme.
41. I am self-willed and stubborn. I have a hard time cooperating with others. Ireally prefer my own way and often insist on getting it.
42. I am independent and uncommitted. I don’t really see why I need otherpeople. I can easily separate myself from others. I don’t get much out of Group meetings.
43. I am unaccountable. I don’t ask others to hold me responsible to followthrough on my commitments. I don’t really need accountability for my wordsand actions. I think I can take care of myself.
44. I am unsubmissive. I don’t like being under the authority of another person. Idon’t see submission as a good and necessary provision from God for my life. Ihave a hard time supporting and serving those over me. I don’t “look up” topeople and I like to be in charge. Other people may need leaders but I don’t.It is important that my voice is heard.
45. I lack respect for other people. I don’t think very highly of most people. Ihave a hard time encouraging and honouring others unless they really dosomething great.
46. I am a slanderer. I find myself either giving or receiving evil reports about others. Often times the things I say or hear are true about other people. I am not concerned about the effect of slander on me because of my maturity level. I think I can handle it. I will only share with others the things I really think they need to know. I don’t tell all.
47. I am divisive. I tend to resist or resent authority. I don’t like other people togive me orders or directions.
48. I like to demean or put others down. I often think people need to be adjustedand put in their place. This includes leaders. Other people need to be morehumble and have a “sober” assessment of themselves.
49. I tend to be critical of others. I find myself feeling or talking negativelyabout people. I subtlety feel better about myself when I see how bad someoneelse is. I find it far easier to evaluate than to encourage someone else.
50. I really appreciate somebody taking the time to put this paper together. Itwill really be a big help to my friends and family. However, I don’t really needthis because I think I’m pretty humble already.
By Grace Rid Yourself of Pride
1. Ask God to illuminate your heart so you can begin to see the fruits of pride inyour life. Ask friends to point out the fruits of pride in your life realizing yourheart is exceedingly deceitful.
2. You must meet the qualifications if you are to go on in God. Humility is theattitude upon which everything else is built.
3. Ask God to convict you point by point (Psalm 139:23-24) and trust that he will.You don’t want or need general condemnation, only specific, godly conviction.
4. Confess your pride to God point by point and ask for his forgiveness. Just asimportantly, ask him to cleanse you of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
5. Don’t ask God to humble you — the Scriptures say to humble yourself (1 Peter5:6). Humility isn’t an emotion; it’s a decision of the will to think and actdifferently. Vine’s Expository Dictionary defines humble as “low lying.” Askyourself how you could be low lying or put others before yourself in varioussituations, and then do it.Respond to opportunities God gives you to humble yourself or honour others.
6. Confess your sins of pride to those you have effected and to your friends.They can help to hold you accountable and bring the on-going correction you willneed.Be open, honest and transparent about your life and sins.
7. Ask God to give you a holy hatred for pride and its fruits in your life. Becontinually on the alert. Don’t allow pride to grow in your heart. Sow to theSpirit, not to the flesh.
8. Remember your war against pride is life-long. It is not a battle won in a day.Yet, as you faithfully put to death, pride, and put on, humility, you willexperience greater freedom and more importantly greater conformity to imageand likeness of Christ. In so doing, God will be glorified in your life!
