In writing to the churches in Asia, the apostle Peter writes,
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kind of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” 1 Peter 5:8-9
One of the most important aspects of the Christian life is to “be watchful” in regard to our sin. This paints the picture of a soldier standing guard at the castle gates who keeps a sharp eye on the horizon for the enemy. The kind of sharp searching you make when you hear an unfamiliar creaking in your house in the middle of the night. Scripture is urging us to keep a sharp, watchful eye on our own hearts for any propensity for sin. For young men, there is nothing more important than keeping a keen eye out for sin in your heart.
Bishop J.C. Ryle writes in Thoughts for Young Men that young men must keep watch for “some special dangers against which some men need to be warned.”[1] One of these dangers that young men are especially prone to is the sin of Pride. It doesn’t matter if you are strong in academics, athletics, or the arts, pride can come for us all.
Scripture presents this sin as one of the oldest sins in the world.[2] It was the cause of the fall of angels as described in Jude 6, it played a role in the fall of man, and it has a role in every sin that we commit. In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, both sons are guilty of this snare. Jesus is tempted with pride three times in the wilderness. Pride comes quickly and, when left untouched, is all-consuming.
Godly men are not prideful men. This is clear throughout Scripture, both in the examples and in the commands God has given us. The question then becomes, “how do I stop being prideful?” In order to do so, we must first understand pride before we can fight our pride.
Understanding Pride
It’s amazing what we can find pride in. The young man can find pride in their natural giftings on the football field, in the classroom, or on the stage. We can find pride in how hard we work or how efficient we are. We find pride in our ability to win video games or board games. We can even find pride in the meaningless little games we cook up with our friends on a Friday night when we have nothing else to do. We have a knack for allowing pride to sneak its way into our hearts and take over. We can find pride in our wisdom, our appearance, or even our hobbies and interests. We are prideful when we think more highly of ourselves than we actually deserve. We are looking at ourselves through rose-colored glasses and fully believing that this view is the reality.
In wisdom literature, the arrogant person is seen as one who believes they need no teaching or correction and yet feels free to share their own opinion (Proverbs 18:2). They believe they know best and there is none above them (Job 12:2). They lift themselves up and act as if they are a god (Obadiah 3; Psalm 10:1-11). One might picture David’s son Absalom standing at the city gates openly declaring himself to be better and wiser than his father the king.
The Bible doesn’t just describe the proud. The Bible also describes what comes for the proud:
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18
“Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.” Psalm 31:23
These warnings are coupled with accounts of the fall of the proud – Pharaoh and Egypt in Exodus, the death of Absalom in 2 Samuel, the kings of Israel, Nebuchadnezzar, and so many more. Scripture is very clear that the proud and arrogant will one day, either in this life or final judgment, face a spectacular fall.
Now, most of us are not going to be kings or wealthy rulers so our pride probably doesn’t manifest itself in the same way as we read in Scripture. Pride may look like taking in counsel but never actually considering it, harshly critiquing preaching and teaching rather than actually examining your heart or seeking to learn, not surrounding yourself with mature Christian men, sharing your opinion on a topic you know nothing about, trying to overcome a perpetual sin on your own, thinking you know everything, or thinking your way is the best way to do something.
We can quickly find out how prideful we are when we are in a situation where our weaknesses are magnified.
Fighting Pride
How do we fight against our pridefulness? How do we avoid this snare?
Repent of your pride
As with every sin, we must begin with confession and repentance. This does not just mean asking God to forgive your sins but also includes turning from your sins. We cannot expect to overcome our pride if we are not giving our sins up to the Lord and looking for His help in overcoming that sin.
Humble Yourself
Humbling yourself is an action. God commands us to humble ourselves and yet also warns that those who lift themselves up will be humbled (Matthew 23:12). We have to make conscious effort to lower ourselves in importance and lifting up others above us, just as Christ did.
Honest Examination
Be honest about your strengths and weaknesses. Humility is not self-deprecation. It has more to do with where you position yourself in importance. God gifted each one of us with specific giftings that are to be used for His kingdom rather than building up our own kingdom.
After giving yourself and honest assessment, discuss this with someone who is mature in the faith and is someone you trust. This will certainly help you grow in seeing yourself and will require that we come to them with a teachable spirit.
Compare yourself to God
This step comes last because it is so important. This is the last step because it will cause us to see our own unrighteousness and the greatness of God himself. Looking at passages such as Exodus 32:6-7 and John 3 help us to see God’s love, justice, mercy, and holiness on full display and in perfect balance.
Follow the example of humble men
The Bible has provided examples of godly men who show us what a humble attitude looks like. The men listed below have their faults to be sure (except the last one) but these specific moments show us how humility is lived out should we find ourselves in their shoes. Reading through these moments will help you to see how to be humble yet strong men of God.
- Elihu (Job 32:6-7) – Humility before Elders
- David (2 Sam 1:1-15) – Humility in his rightful place
- Solomon (1 Kings 3:7-8) – humility in his own ability
- Isaiah (Isaiah 6) – humility before God
- Jesus (Phil 2:7-8) – humility in service (and so much more!)
Humility requires us to set aside ourselves and be focused on submitting ourselves in love to others. We must be distrustful of our hearts and lean on the wisdom in Scripture. Bishop J.C. Ryle sums up this truth well,
“Do not be too confident in your own judgment. Cease to be sure that you are always right, and others wrong. Be distrustful of your own opinion, when you find it contrary to that of older men than yourselves, and specially to that of your own parents.”
Men, follow the example of those who have gone before you. Seek to understand yourself well, to know God better, and to follow the example of the godly men who have gone before you in growing in humility.
[1] J.C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men (Moscow: Charles Nolan Publishers, 2002), 18.
[2] J.C. Ryle, Thoughts for Young Men, 18.