Foot of Pride

Do you realize that pride is the root of most sin?  It is where wars come from.  That is why pride is at the top of most lists of sin in the Bible.  God hates pride.  It is the opposite of humility and Jesus was the ultimate example of humility.  It struck me that in Mark 9:31 Jesus tells the disciples he is going to be betrayed into the hands of men and they will kill him and after three days he will rise again.  Fast forward only three verses to 9:34 where Jesus tells us they were arguing on the road to Capernaum who was the greatest.  These guys were with Jesus day in and day out and yet there is still the pride issue.   If they wrestle with that, what chance do I have?

Let not the foot of pride come upon me, And let not the hand of the wicked drive me away. Psalm 36:11

Pride is described as a foot that comes upon me.  It is an internally bred sin, one that no one does to me.  It is contrasted with the external sin which is the hand of the wicked which drives me away.  Pride is the proverbial “kick in the teeth”.  Isn’t that what pride always is?  “Whoever thinks he stands take heed lest he falls” in 1 Cor 10:12.  Whenever I exalt myself, I am sure to fall.  I can’t talk myself out of my pride issue.  There is no natural way to fight pride. 

How do we solve this problem?  Simple answer “others”.  It means putting others ahead of ourselves – seeking their interests.  When I especially am wrestling with a pride issue, the best answer is to find someone to serve.  It takes the attention off of myself and onto others where it belongs.  But it does not come naturally.  Naturally, I don’t want to serve others, I want to be served.  It can only come supernaturally.  But boy what a feeling when we put others first.  I think that is what Paul was referring to when he said that Jesus emptied himself and took the form of a servant (Phil 2:7).  Jesus could empty himself, we could not because our hearts desire is to be filled.  There is no greater feeling than to serve others – knocks the pride right out of us.  When I served at the City Mission years ago, there was no pride issue.  When we visited Africa, there was no pride issue.  How could there be?