Humility Day 2: Pride

Today's reading in Character Makeover is about pride. I began today thinking: I am not prideful. I am just the opposite. But now I realize that there are areas in my life that I am prideful. Ways that I didn't realize or failed to acknowledge.

I really like the things that Katie talks about in this chapter about pride.

"Pride at it's essence is a problem of being me-centered. Pride sets us up against God and attempts to seize his lordship for ourselves." pg. 31

Katie then goes on to describe the four areas of pride along with scripture reference:

Exalting myself: "It's all about me."

• Exalting pride occurs when we overvalue ourselves by trying to build ourselves up.
• "You're hopeless, you Pharisees! Frauds! You love sitting at the head table at church dinners, love preening yourselves in the radiance of public flattery." Luke 11:43

Belittling myself: "Woe is me."

• Worthlessness is the most deceptive form of pride. This type of pride masquerades as humility, but it's really a reverse method of attracting attention. Women who belittle themselves are masters at undervaluing their worth.
• "And when you fast, don't make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, who try to look pale and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I assure you, that is the only reward they will ever get." Matthew 6:16

Attacking others: "You're not as good as me."

• Pride that attacks others is a judgmental spirit, one which devalues others by tearing them down.
• For scripture reference on attacking others, see Matthew 7:1-5

Ignoring others: "You're not the boss of me."

• This type of ignoring others obviously undervalues their input.
• "Israel's pride will cause their defeat; they will not turn back to the Lord their God or look to him for help in all this." Hosea 7:10

After discussing these different types of pride, there is a self-evaluating test on which kind of pride you deal with most often. I took the test and was surprised by the results. It was a very revealing test. My area of pride that I struggle with most is belittling myself.

Here are Katie's suggestions for dealing with each type of pride:

• Do you exalt yourself? You can decide to die to self and stop attempting to steal God's glory. This is a conscious choice; it is a daily decision.
• Do you belittle yourself? You can learn who you are in Christ as his precious daughter and stop lying to yourself about your lack of value.
• Do you attack others? You can declare that God is God and stop trying to be president of the world.
• Do you ignore others? You can start seeing people as God' instruments and stop resisting their input.

Today, examine these different types of pride and how you see them in your own life. Ask God to show you. Pray to God for help in trying to be more humble and less prideful.