What comes to mind when you hear the word “pride”?

I often think of people who overestimate themselves, consider themselves as better than others, and see no need to rely on God. They elevate themselves, sometimes taking advantage of others to get what they want or acting above the law.

We see in Scripture that God opposes the proud.

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6 NLT).

Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall (Proverbs 16:18).

Our old human nature leans toward pride. It is wrong and separates us from God.

Pride isn’t always obvious though. It’s not just the arrogant, self-absorbed ones who are driven by pride. There is another side of pride that is more subtle. It’s thinking too lowly of yourself.

Pride happens when you diminish God’s love for you. You hear lies about yourself and you believe them.

You feel worthless as a person. You have a hard time accepting yourself and are critical of yourself but extend kindness to everyone else.

You may even entertain thoughts that you are a mistake and doubt that you have God-given purpose. (I can relate with that one). As a result you might even allow people to treat you like a doormat because you feel that you have no value.

You might seek attention from others in an attempt to please them and gain validation from them.

You feel hopeless, unable to see God’s blessings and presence in your life.

You respect the worth of other people and recognize their sacredness, but somehow you’re an exception.

When you hold on to these thoughts and feelings as reality, you’re putting your thoughts and feelings above what God says about you. You’re saying that you know better than God. That is a form of pride.

God’s Word says that you are fearfully and wonderful made. He knew you when you were in your mother’s womb, crafting you with special care (Psalm 139:13-16). You are a masterpiece designed with something amazing in God’s mind (Ephesians 2:10). You have been called according to His purposes (2 Timothy 1:9) and God equips you to do what pleases Him (Hebrews 13:21).

It gets even better!

If you have trusted Jesus as your Savior and Lord, God is your God. He has adopted you into His family as His beloved child.

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure (Ephesians 1:5 NLT).

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! (1 John 3:1 NLT).

Yes, these verses say “us” but they include you, not just everybody else.

God chose you. You are His child; He is your Father. He loves you deeply. That is the truth!

Kick pride to the curb. Take God at His Word. Find Scriptures that talk about you being in Christ or Christ being in you or how much you are loved. Believe what He says about you and spend time dwelling on that.

Don’t believe the devil’s lies. Don’t believe the lies you tell yourself. Train your mind that what God says is true. His Word is exalted above everything and everyone else.

We are nothing without Jesus, but with Him we are priceless. That’s true humility.

Reject pride and you can thrive in life and leadership.