Arguably one of the most basic, sinful inclinations humans have is pride: an inflation of self-importance and self-accomplishment. This is, after all, what the serpent appealed to when speaking to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3: “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5 CSB). Adam and Eve ate out of a desire to elevate themselves and become equals with their all-powerful Creator. Every time we look around at our accomplishments and say, “Look what I have done,” we fall prey to the same sin as our Biblical ancestors: forgetting our place as servants who serve at the pleasure of the all-powerful One and acting in the pretense that we are equals or even superiors to God.
In Joshua 8, the Israelites are looking to conquer Ai, a city the Lord has told Joshua He has handed over to him. Joshua obeys the Lord’s instructions and has his men set up an ambush behind the city. Some of his other men draw all the soldiers of Ai out of and away from the city, leaving it vulnerable to attack by those lying wait in ambush. With the city completely exposed, the Lord says to Joshua: “Hold out the javelin in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand the city over to you” (Joshua 8:18 CSB). When he does so, the men ambush, destroy, and set fire to the city, leaving no one alive (v. 22). It was a complete victory for the Israelites and the turning point was Joshua raising his spear into the air. In celebration, instead of reveling in his own power and accomplishment, Joshua builds an altar to the Lord and reads the Book of the Law to all the Israelites. This victory does not spark pride in Joshua but humility. To the reader, the reason for this should be clear: Joshua does not take pride in what he has done because he understands that it was not of his power and ability, but the Lord’s.
This is not exclusively applicable to Joshua’s life, however. Everything good that we “accomplish” must be viewed with the perspective that God, in His power, sovereignty, grace, and love, freely decides to allow us to be a part of His power and His plan. Without God, we are nothing. We deserve nothing and we are powerless to change that fact. It is only in His loving grace that we can do, not just all things (Philippians 4:13), but anything at all. Understanding this fact is the first step in being obedient and in humbling ourselves before the Lord (1 Peter 5:7)– the key to combating that most basic sin: pride.
This has endless applications in our lives, but we will look at three in particular: Missions, Gifts, and Blessings.
Missions
There is a danger for every Christian committed to furthering the reach of the Gospel to see fruit from one’s labor and subconsciously say, “Look at all that I am doing for the Lord.” Whether in a pastoral capacity or in sharing the Gospel with a coworker, it is all too easy to accredit Spiritual victories to ourselves and forget that the Lord is not dependent on us, but we on Him. In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul puts his ministry in perspective:
“What then is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”
1 Corinthians 3:5-7 CSB
Although both Paul and Apollos are seeing tangible results of their ministry in both conversions and sanctification among believers, Paul makes very clear: they are nothing without God. Where is there room for pride? Instead, Spiritual victories should invoke humble worship, awe, and thanks among His servants.
Gifts
It can be easy to become prideful and conceited based on the spiritual gifts and inclinations we have. This can come in two ways: being prideful in what we have or becoming envious of what others have. In each case, the underlying problem is pride. Lying at the heart of this is either the rationale that we have power over our gifts or that we know what we need/deserve more than God provides. Paul combats this pride in 1 Corinthians 12: “One and the same Spirit is active in all these, distributing to each person as he wills” (v.11 CSB). If a person has the gift of prophecy, it is not something that was derived from their own doing or abilities but from the free grace of God. Again, where is the room for pride? Instead, our gifts should provoke humility, as we fall before the throne of God proclaiming our unworthiness and His incomprehensible love.
In the same breath, we have no right to envy others’ gifts. The Lord gives as He wills and who are we to imply, if not explicitly declare, that God acted wrongly in His allotment of gifts?
Blessings
Blessings follow in the same thought as gifts: there must be an understanding that what we have, all the way up to our salvation (Romans 9), is in our possession only because God decided to give it to us. When Job lost nearly all of his material objects and relations, his reaction was not of anger and accusations against God, but of humble worship:
Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, saying:
Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will leave this life.[a]
The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything (Job 1:20-22 CSB).
Job understood that he did not have any rights to anything he owned. God was free to give and free to take away.
This knowledge helps remove our identity from the stuff we have; no longer are we defined by our income, education, or property value, but as children of God who experience His love in numerous ways. It removes pride from our hearts and inclines us to give more graciously to others because we understand that we deserve what we have no more than others do. It is because of God that we have it, not ourselves.
In as many ways as pride can harm us as human beings, humility in knowing that everything good we accomplish, whether that be getting college scholarships or leading someone to Christ, is not achieved by our own power, but by God’s. We are all rebellious, sinful creatures who deserve nothing but death and Hell. But fortunately, we are loved by a God who allows us to take part in His victories. Let us not foolishly boast in ourselves, but worship Him in reverence and thanks.