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What comes to your mind when you think of the word, “Pride”?
I don’t know about you, but most of my initial thoughts aren’t in the positive category. We’ve all been raised to believe that pride is a bad thing. Hey, the Bible even teaches this! “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.” (Prov. 16:18 NASB). And how about this one? “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride, arrogance, the evil way, And the perverted mouth, I hate.” (Prov. 8:13 NASB). There are many others. I invite you to see also Proverbs 29:23, Romans 12:16, Psalms 10:4, etc.
Some of you can likely relate when I say that when someone compliments me on something I’ve done, I am so tempted to feel proud of my accomplishment. Take devotional writing, for example. Every time someone writes in to say they were blessed by one of my devotionals, I can always feel that self-pride beginning to rise.
But wait. Aren’t we supposed to have happy, positive emotions when we receive compliments? Especially when it is regarding the work of the Lord?
I have long struggled with this. Living in a sinful world, shouldn’t we feel proud each time we overcome? Each time we succeed in letting God work through us? Each time we accomplish something for His Kingdom?
Unfortunately, however, this will so easily lead to full-blow pride, the wrong kind, the kind spoken of in Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.” (NASB).
With all of that in mind, I believe that we are all justified if our first thoughts about the word “pride” are in the negative category!
This is why I was a little surprised when I stumbled upon James 1:9-10 this morning, for here is a passage in the Bible that actually says we should take pride… “Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation.” (James 1:9-10 NASB).
It may seem on first glance that the Bible is contradicting itself; however, we know that the Bible never contradicts itself. Therefore, there is a reasonable explanation… And it can be found in the same verses! Let’s take a look at this same passage from the New Living Translation: “Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them.” (James 1:9-10a NLT).
In other words, it isn’t the pride itself that is bad, it’s what we choose to take pride in! And according to James, the brother of Jesus, it is very good to take pride in things that have been given to us by God!
This puts a whole new spin on pride, doesn’t it? Pride, when it is in our own accomplishments, is just plain wrong, and the Bible states this clearly. What isn’t wrong, however, and in fact is very, very right, is to feel pride in the Lord for what He has done!
What, then, if I began to stop seeing my own accomplishments as my good actions; but rather, I start seeing them for what they are: God working through me? Then I would have a right to feel proud: Proud of what God is doing!
It allows us to feel those positive, wonderful thoughts, but all the while taking us out of the picture and showcasing … God!
That is the positive of pride!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Author, Moderator, Acting Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
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