Pride is a sin that attempts to push God off of His glorious throne so that you can take His place. The blessing of humility is the realization of who God truly is, who we truly are, and the joy of living out our true identity as we serve and worship the Lord of all!

Remember Aladdin? The dude that not only got the girl, but also got an opportunity for three wishes to come true? Or let’s make this a little more biblical. Remember Solomon? “At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you” (1 Kings 3:5). Could you imagine the Lord appearing to you and saying, “What would you like for me to give you?” Solomon, quite impressively, chose to ask the Lord for wisdom. I can only hope that I would have asked the same thing if I had been in Solomon’s position!

So what would you say if the Lord asked you that same question today? Remember, the Lord Jesus has come to rescue us from the eternal hell that we deserve, and in Christ, we have already received “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3)! So what more could you ask for, right?

Before we can answer that question, let’s think about the sin that we continue to fight against in this world (See Romans 7). We have marvelously been justified (made right with God and at peace with Him) by grace (pure, undeserved favor) through faith (even our faith is a God-given gift!) in Jesus Christ (His sinless life, death on the cross for us, resurrection from the dead, and ascension into Heaven)! Because of Jesus, we are righteous before God and completely forgiven of our every sin! That is our position before God!

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However, the truth is that we are not yet in practice what we are in position. In other words, we do not live out our actual identity. Though we are righteous before God, we continue to deal with unrighteousness (sin) in our hearts (see 1 John 1:8). Though we will be completely free of sin one day (1 John 3:2-3), we will surely continue to deal with sin until we see Jesus face to face.

So with that in mind, is there a specific sin you continue to deal with that you would love to see disappear forevermore? Is there something about you that you would love to see changed, truly transformed, for all time?

Well, I surely have lots of things that I would love to see “put off” and “put to death” (Ephesians 4:22; Colossians 3:9; Romans 8:13). And very importantly, I would love to see holiness and those things which please the Lord to be “put on” (Romans 13:14; Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10).

Striving for Humility

Let’s go back to pretending that the Lord has asked us the same question that He asked Solomon.

What would you ask for?

Ok, since I’m the one writing the article, I’ll share with you what I would ask for. I would ask Him to completely take away my pride and replace it with a spirit of humility! The pride that I’m speaking of is not the kind of pride that we express over our loved ones (2 Corinthians 7:4) or over a job well-done (Galatians 6:4). These forms of pride are not necessarily sinful (though they can be).

Instead, I’m talking about the kind of pride that God hates (Proverbs 8:13). This sinful pride could be defined as the exaggerated valuing of one’s self, or too much love of self. The great Augustine (354-430 AD) considered pride to be the most basic of sins, the sin which most other sins stem from. He explained the fall of mankind (Genesis 3) as being due to the pride of Adam and Eve. Instead of valuing God and worshipping Him, they chose to value themselves too highly, and they wanted to be God themselves.

The great Augustine (354-430 AD) considered pride to be the most basic of sins, the sin which most other sins stem from.Click To Tweet

Perhaps some of you are noticing that I cheated a little bit by asking for pride to be removed from me. Why is this cheating? Well, if pride is removed, and humility (the polar opposite of pride) is provided to me, then the majority of the other sins that I deal with in my heart are taken care of! As pride leaves, much of sin leaves with it. How glorious that would be!

Over the past few years, I have attempted to do battle with pride. Perhaps the biggest part of my battle includes the memory of pertinent Scripture verses, and intentionally making time to behold Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:18). As a side note, this is why the devotionals on Maturing Life in Christ are called “Beholding Beauty,” because as we behold the beauty (or the glory) of Christ, we become more like Him! So here are some of the verses that have impacted me (and are continuing to impact me!) in a powerful way.

Bible Verses to Replace Pride with Humility

• The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.  (Proverbs 8:13)
• But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  (James 4:6)
• Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.  Proverbs 16:18)
• But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.  (Galatians 6:14)
• But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.  (1 Corinthians 15:10)
• Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  (Philippians 2:3-4)
• Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”  (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
• So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’  (Luke 17:10)
• For who sees anything different in you? What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?  (1 Corinthians 4:7)

These verses are chicken soup for my soul! They renew my mind as Paul talks about in his letter to the Roman church (Romans 12:2). They remind me of who I am, and most importantly, who God is! The Holy Spirit uses these verses to change my thoughts, my desires, my motivations, and my will. I will give you one example to illustrate what I’m talking about.

A Personal Battle with Pride

I have the great blessing of serving as a pastor in a local church and also as a corporate chaplain. I love what I get to do! I often get to see firsthand what the Lord is graciously doing in lives all around me. It is a wonderful thing! Sometimes, however, the pride of the flesh attempts to creep in. I often have the pleasure of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with those who don’t yet know Him. When some of those individuals believe the good news and confess Christ as their Lord and Savior, it is a marvelous thing to witness!

But oh, how quickly pride wants to creep in! We are in danger of thinking that somehow we contributed to that person’s salvation because we were the one that God used to share the good news. Yet, Scripture makes it abundantly clear that it is God, and God alone, who saves people (1 Corinthians 3:6-8).

In all honesty, I hate the phrase “I led them to the Lord.” I realize what is meant by that statement (simply an acknowledgment of being instruments in the hands of the Redeemer), but that statement can only throw more gas on the fire of pride in my heart. For that reason, I choose to use wording that points away from me and toward the Lord, such as “I witnessed the Lord mercifully save a guy today”.

So how do the above verses help to renew my mind during the times that I’m tempted to feel prideful over seeing a fruitful ministry?

• I remember my sin and the hell that I deserve. The only reason I’ve been saved by God is pure mercy and grace!
• I remember that God hates pride! He calls our pride an abomination. How can I continue in something that I know God hates?
• I remember that I’m only doing my duty (Luke 17:10). How can I boast in the fact that I’m doing the very thing that’s been expected of me? I’m not going above and beyond! I’m simply doing the basic duty that I’ve been assigned (Matthew 28:18-20). I cannot compare myself with those who are being disobedient. That will surely make me feel better. But I need to compare myself with Christ and His precious Word! It is there that I can see 20/20. I am a servant, not the One who is to be served!
• I remember that I wouldn’t be able to open my mouth to proclaim the good news apart from God allowing me to do so. What do I have that I didn’t receive from the Lord? I only believe because God enabled me to believe. I only speak because God has given me the courage to speak. And furthermore, though I proclaim the good news, it is only God who can take that good news and resurrect a spiritually dead person. No matter how you slice it, God gets the glory!
• I remember the command to humbly consider others as more significant than myself, and to look to their interests (Philippians 2:3-4). As I set my mind on caring for others and considering their needs, I will live more like a servant rather than somebody seeking to be served. As I think more highly of others than myself, I will be putting to death the pride in my heart.
• I remember that if I am ever going to boast, I must boast in the cross of Christ (Galatians 6:14). According to the Bible, boasting in myself is never an option. All of life is about God and His glory. If I ever boast in anything that competes with the glory of God, then I am a fool.

There’s a lot more that could be said, but hopefully you get the idea. Though I’ve used a very specific situation for an example, the principles can surely be applied to any situation. The above verses (and many more) are able to renew your mind in a way that allows you to view yourself, the Lord, and others in a way that is honoring to God and is loving to others!

Our Lord Jesus is the ultimate example of humility (Mark 10:45; Philippians 2:3-11). Jesus is the King who came in to the world that He created, as a suffering servant. He humbled Himself in order to save us! If the Creator of everything would show such humility out of love, how much more ought we, His creation (out of dust, mind you), exercise humility before the face of God?

If the Creator of everything would show such humility out of love, how much more ought we, His creation, exercise humility before the face of God?Click To Tweet

I may not have access to Aladdin’s genie, and I must admit that I haven’t experienced the dream that Solomon did. But I have something just as wonderful! The Holy Spirit lives inside of me, and He is actively taking away my pride and replacing it with humility on a daily basis! My daily reliance on the Holy Spirit in itself helps to keep me humble, as it’s a good reminder that apart from God’s work in my heart, I am unable to produce any good thing. The Lord has saved me. The Lord is sanctifying me. The Lord will glorify me in His timing. In all of these things, God gets the glory!

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This is true for you as well! If you have been united to Jesus Christ through faith, then you likewise have the Holy Spirit at work within you. Every single Christian will battle against pride until we see our Lord face to face, so please find comfort in knowing that the Spirit of Christ is within you, and He is cultivating humility in your heart! And why is this important? It’s important because pride is a sin that attempts to push God off of His glorious throne so that you can take His place. The truth is, though, that we don’t deserve to sit on that throne. There’s only one who is worthy of that, and it’s the Trinitarian God! Therefore, the blessing of humility is the realization of who God truly is, who we truly are, and the joy of living out our true identity as we serve and worship the Lord of all!

Lastly, don’t forget that the Word of God is your weapon in all of this. “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16), and you will see wonderful, transformative change in your own heart.  As we seek to put on humility, we will be loving toward others and we will honor the Lord. And in all these things, God alone gets the glory!