Look Out Below!!!

For the month of September, our worship team is discussing Pride vs. Confidence and the importance of humility. We have all heard the Scripture that "pride comes before the fall", but how do we prevent that from happening? Did you know that pride is the most serious of the seven deadly sins? It is also the most difficult sin to recognize in our own lives. This is due to the fact that pride can skew our perceptions of reality. Pride deceives us and obscures the truth because of the humbling light that it would shed. See the contrast? Pride and truth are opposites. Pride deals with deception; humility deals with truth.

Here are a few more interesting differentiations between the two. Pride is a preoccupation with oneself. It is often a public display around self-centeredness in some form. Even the word "pride" is centered around the letter "i". Some of the most influential people in history have been brought down by pride. (Ahem...or music icons, cough, cough...Kanye West...) No, actually I'm referring to Adam & Eve, Cain, King Nebuchadnezzar, his son Belshazzar, King Sennacherib and Lucifer to name just a few. I found this part interesting; of the seven deadly sins, each one was associated with a specific demon. Get this, pride was assigned to Lucifer! Pride is an overestimation of one's ability or security, righteousness or self-worth.

True humility is submission to God and legitimate authority, recognition of virtues and talents of others-including those which surpass one's own, giving due honor. Humility is a sign of Godly strength, not weakness. It is about modesty, lacking pretense and not believing that you are superior to others. You can still have both confidence and humility. Confidence is a private matter. The trick is finding the balance. I believe that Queen Esther and King David are great examples of this.

Did you know that you can actually be prideful about being too humble? Give that a second to sink in. And most of us won't recognize pride until it's too late. By that point, someone is already screaming, "Look out below!" We have ALL dealt with pride, but the key is to crucify it before it crucifies us. It is good to have an accountability partner or trusted friend that will let you know without the sugar coating. Anyone can ask, "How am I doing?" But it requires humility to ask, "What can I change?"

Here are a few questions to keep ourselves in check:

1. How many times do the words "I" or "my" occur in a conversation? (Start with counting just in one sentence.)
2. Whose attention am I seeking and why? Where is my focus?
3. Am I judging, degrading or speaking down to others?
4. Am I boastful about my acclaimed humility?
5. Am I able to say the following phrases: "You are right" and "I am sorry". (Just gonna be a little transparent...that's a hard one for me!)
6. Do I have a pastor, friend or confidant that I can go to that does not have their own agenda at stake? Will they be honest enough to tell me the things that I don't want to hear? (This must be someone that you trust to speak the truth in love-words of encouragement and life, not death.)
7. Do I take ownership of my successes, abilities, talents or ideas? (Remember WHO gave those things to you in the first place, so all glory and credit belongs to HIM.)

Lastly, pray, pray, pray! Ask God with an open heart and be ready to listen with open ears. Proverbs is a great book to read on pride and humility. It gives so many practical guidelines to live by. Try one chapter per day if you haven't done so already. So much great stuff in there!

Scripture references:
Proverbs 15:33 "...before honor is humility."
Proverbs 16:18-19 "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit among the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud."