PRIDE AND HUMILITY

A lesson about the dangers of pride and the value of humility.

As you read this lesson, be sure to hover over the the Bible verses to read them or look them up in your own copy of the Bible. When the Bible passage is longer, you need to click on “more” in the bottom right corner of the pop-up window.

Introduction

Welcome! The Bible has much to say about this interesting topic. You may find it helpful to invite a mature Christian from your church to study this topic with you. You may have a lot of questions that are not answered here. Maybe there are ideas here that seem hard to understand. Do not get overwhelmed! You can contact us with any questions that you may have. The elders of your local church can help you as well.

Remember that learning the content about this topic is helpful, but knowing the information will not truly change you. For you to benefit fully from this topic, you must…

• Become born-again by securing a personal relationship with God the Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, through faith by grace. This information cannot change you until the Holy Spirit of God gives you a new heart that is able to apply it to your life. To begin a personal relationship with God, it is imperative to understand and believe the following:

  • God is separated from you, because He is good, pure, and holy. 1 John 1:5-6

  • You are sinful, impure, and unholy because you do not measure up to God’s holiness. Romans 3:10-12 You are a descendent of Adam and Eve who rebelled against God. Romans 5:19

  • Your sinfulness provokes God’s anger and separates you from Him because He is holy. Romans 5:12 As a result, you deserve to be thrown into the Lake of Fire forever. Revelation 20:14-15

  • God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth. Jesus is God in the flesh. He lived a sinless life. He was nailed to the cross, shed His blood, and died in your place for your sins. He was buried, rose again, and went to Heaven to prepare a place for all who believe. He will return one day for those who believe. 1 Corinthians 15:1-4

  • Only the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is enough for you to be accepted forever by God the Father the moment you believe. John 3:16 God does not accept you on the basis that you try to be a good person and do good works. Romans 4:5 He accepts you fully and forever the moment you abandon your sins and call on Jesus to save you. John 3:36

• As you understand, meditate on, and believe the information presented here about this topic, you must also do what the Bible says. James 1:21-22 Only by trusting and obeying God’s Word regarding this topic will you experience the full benefits of this information. James 1:23-24 Trusting and obeying God’s Word will change you as you learn this. 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 You will be happy as a result of your obedience. James 1:25

• Seek and heed the advice of your church leaders regarding this topic. Hebrews 13:17

• Depend upon the Holy Spirit to change you. Galatians 3:1-3 You cannot change without Him enabling you. John 15:5 He will change you in His time and way; but not apart from your faith and obedience to God’s Word. Trust Him to do His work in your heart. Philippians 2:12-13

• Allow the joy that you experience from obeying God’s Word to transform how you interact with others. James 2:12-20

The Gospel enables us to BE HUMBLE

• Jesus is God in the flesh. He lived a sinless life of humility for us. Hebrews 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22 He was nailed to the cross as if He was prideful like we are. 1 Peter 2:24 He shed His blood so that we can be washed clean of our arrogance. Hebrews 10:22 He died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. Hebrews 4:14 He now sits at the right hand of the Father, representing us to Him. Hebrews 7:24-25

• Since Christ lived a life of humility for us, we have been accepted in Christ by God the Father as if we lived that way. 1 Peter 3:18

• We have been accepted as children of God who eagerly care about others more than ourselves. We are called to live according to the interests of others like Christ did during His life on earth. 1 Peter 2:21; 1 Peter 2:23

• Since Christ died because of our pride, we no longer need to live for ourselves. 1 Peter 2:24

• Since Christ rose from the grave, we can go boldly to Him for help when we lack the will to serve others. Hebrews 4:15-16

• We can forget our past moments of pride, living lives as humble servants of others. We can have courage, knowing that God will conform us into the image of Christ and that He will never abandon us. 2 Corinthians 5:14-21; Philippians 3:7-14; 1 Peter 2:25

• How will you commit this to prayer daily?

WHAT IS Pride?

Pride is when we exalt ourselves above others, including God. Isaiah 47:10

We do this by…

• Thinking we are better than them. Luke 18:10-14

• Thinking we deserve better than them. 3 John 1:9

• Treating them poorly. Proverbs 12:1; James 2:1-4

WHAT DOES GOD THINK ABOUT PRIDE?

God hates the proud in heart. Pride disgusts Him. Proverbs 16:5-6

HOW DOES GOD RESPOND TO PRIDE?

God works against the proud in order to humble them.

• Psalm 31:23; Acts 12:21-23; Isaiah 2:11-12

Consider studying the life of Nebuchadnezzar and Haman.

What are the effects of Pride?

When we are prideful:

• We stumble and destroy ourselves. Proverbs 16:18

• We complain. Philippians 2:14

• We question God’s ways. Romans 9:20

• We are ungrateful and ripe for the LORD’s discipline. 2 Chronicles 32:25

• We talk too much. Proverbs 10:19; Proverbs 18:2

• We think more highly of ourselves than we ought. Galatians 6:3; Romans 12:3

• We think we know better than anyone else. Proverbs 12:15; Proverbs 26:12; 1 Corinthians 8:1

• We are unreasonable. Proverbs 13:1; James 3:13-18

• We become unfaithful to the Lord. 2 Chronicles 26:15-16

• We forget what God has done for us. Deuteronomy 8:14

• We do more than we should. Psalm 131:1-3

• We are humiliated. Proverbs 29:23

HOW SHOULD WE FEEL ABOUT PRIDE?

We should hate pride in ourselves more than we hate pride in others. Proverbs 8:13

• Proverbs 21:4

How to get rid of pride

We must humble ourselves by exalting God and others above ourselves by…

• Knowing that no one is greater than God. Romans 11:33-36

• Knowing that everything that we have is a gift from God. 1 Corinthians 4:7

• Recognizing that we deserve death for our sin.

• Believing that Christ died for our sins and rose again.

• Responding to people in love and humility. Luke 7:36-50; 1 Corinthians 13:4

• Serving others. Philippians 2:3-4

WHAT IS HUMILITY?

Humility esteems God and others as higher than ourselves.

• We understand that God is sovereign, holy, kind, loving, and merciful.

• We have a proper view of others. Romans 12:16

  • We recognize other’s value to God and us.

  • We appreciate others’ spiritual gifts. 1 Corinthians 12:14-25

• We have a proper view of ourselves. 1 Corinthians 15:9-10; Ephesians 3:8; Numbers 12:3; 1 Timothy 1:12-17

  • We are made from dust in God’s image.

  • We are born sinners.

  • We are forgiven by God’s grace.

  • We recognize that apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. John 15:5

WHAT DOES GOD THINK ABOUT HUMILITY?

God feels at home with the humble person. Isaiah 57:15

HOW DOES GOD RESPOND TO HUMILITY?

He gives grace to the humble. James 4:6

• He does not despise their sacrifices. Psalm 51:17

• God looks out for the humble person. Isaiah 66:2; Psalm 138:6

• God exalts them at the right time. Job 5:11; 1 Peter 5:6

HOW SHOULD WE FEEL ABOUT HUMILITY?

We should desire humility more than honor. Proverbs 22:4; Proverbs 16:19

• The honor that we want cannot be obtained apart from humility. Proverbs 29:23

• We gain wisdom from being humble. Proverbs 11:2

How to BECOME HUMBLE

To become humble, we need to…

• Focus on pleasing God. Matthew 20:1-16

• Meditate on His attributes. Job 38-41

• Seek out opportunities to clothe ourselves in humility. Acts 20:18-19; 1 Peter 5:5-11

• Be a servant to people. Mark 10:45; Galatians 5:13-14

• Be accepting of correction. Proverbs 10:17; Proverbs 12:1; Proverbs 13:10; Proverbs 19:20; Proverbs 9:8

• Go out of our way to love people who will not love us back. John 13:1-7

• Prefer others above ourselves. Romans 12:10; James 1:19; Proverbs 27:5-6

• Thank people for rebuking or correcting us even when we are embarrassed. Psalm 141:3-5; Proverbs 27:9; Proverbs 10:17; Proverbs 12:1; Proverbs 13:18; Proverbs 15:5; Proverbs 9:7-9; Proverbs 15:12; 2 Samuel 16:5-14

• Embrace our weaknesses. 2 Corinthians 11:30; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

WHAT IS FEAR OF MAN?

Fear of man is when we are afraid of what others might:

• Think about us. Proverbs 29:25; John 7:12-13

• Say about us. Isaiah 51:7-8; Deuteronomy 1:17

• Say to us. 1 Peter 3:13-17; Ezekiel 2:6-7; Psalm 55:2-8

• Do to us. Genesis 32:7; Proverbs 3:25-26; Isaiah 43:1; Matthew 10:16-33; John 12:42-43

HOW TO GET RID OF The FEAR OF MAN

Fear God alone by meditating on… Exodus 20:20; Deuteronomy 5:29; Job 4:6

• His attributes. Psalm 23:4; Psalm 27:1-8; Psalm 118:6-9; Jeremiah 10:6-7; Jeremiah 17:7-8

• What He has done. Deuteronomy 3:22; Deuteronomy 6:13

• The Gospel. Deuteronomy 31:8

• The future New Heavens and New Earth. Psalm 46:1-11; Revelation 2:10; Revelation 22:1-7

• All secrets yet to be revealed. Luke 12:2-9; John 3:20

WHAT IS PEOPLE-PLEASING?

People-pleasing is when we want people to be pleased with us more than we want God to be pleased. Galatians 1:10

We are people-pleasing when:

• We do things for positive attention. Matthew 23:24-28; Galatians 2:11-14

• We do things for praise from man. Proverbs 27:2; Matthew 6:1-8

• We show favoritism. 1 Corinthians 1:10-13; Galatians 2:6-14

HOW TO Stop PEOPLE-PLEASING

Focus on pleasing God instead of others by… 1 Corinthians 10:31-33

• Recognizing the futility of trying to please people. Proverbs 27:20-21

• Doing what’s right, because it is right, even if no one else notices. 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

• Humbling yourself by serving others. Philippians 1:21-30; Philippians 2:17; Philippians 3:1-14

Love

• At the root of all pride is a lack of love for God and others. 2 John 1:5; 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

• Until you learn to love people more than yourself, you will always be prideful, have fear of man, and be a people-pleaser. 2 Timothy 2:22; Hebrews 13:1; 1 John 3:10-23

• You need to understand God’s love for you and other people, loving them like He does. Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:7-12; Ephesians 5:1-2; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; John 13:34-35; John 15:12-17

• Love people, expecting nothing in return. Matthew 5:43-48; Luke 6:27-36; 1 Peter 4:8

• You fear people to the degree at which you love yourself instead of them. 1 John 4:16-21

• To be a people-pleaser is to use others for your own selfish gain instead of lovingly serving them. Romans 12:9-10; Romans 13:8-10; 1 Peter 1:22-23; 1 Corinthians 13:1-8; 1 Corinthians 13:13

• Love and serve them because God does. Colossians 3:14

• Forget about yourself by focusing on God’s love. 2 Corinthians 12:15; 1 Corinthians 16:14; 2 Corinthians 2:4

REPRESENTING CHRISt with Humility

• We do not exist simply to live for ourselves. We were created to represent God.

• When we humbly deem others as more important than ourselves, it is not about us and them primarily. It is about God being represented well in how we nurture things most important to them. God’s reputation is on the line because we represent Him.

• God wants us to enjoy fellowship with Him. We must demonstrate this fellowship by clothing ourselves in humility as we serve others.

• As we humble ourselves we become more like Christ. God opposes the proud. When we are prideful, we hinder God’s ability to use us to represent Him well.

• When we share the Gospel, it shines a light on our lives. If we don’t humbly deem others as more important than ourselves, then we will be tempted not to share the Gospel.

• Cultivating humility gives us boldness in our faith. This boldness enables us to be transparent with anyone and invite other believers into our lives to disciple them.

• Let the reputation of God and His love for people motivate us to cultivate humility.

• The love of Christ is enough to motivate us to cultivate humility.

Conclusion

Now that you have studied this topic, we encourage you to...

• Ask us or any of your church leaders about any questions or concerns you still have about this topic.

• Pray for yourself to grow in maturity regarding this topic.

• Do your best to practice what you have learned.

• Tell someone else about what you have studied.

• Ask one of your church leaders to help you overcome your weaknesses regarding this topic.

• Teach this subject to others.

• Consider reviewing this topic once each year.

• Commit to growing in this area together with other members of a local church.

• Trust the Holy Spirit to change you as He uses His Word, others, and circumstances to make you more like Christ.