Diagnosis: Prideful

The Symptoms

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves." Philippians 2:3 (ESV)

Have you checked your motives lately? I try to do a motive check-up often. If I start to have a bad attitude toward something or someone, God convicts me. Then, I examine why I wound up there. It's usually because of my pride: Things weren't going my way or people weren't acting like I thought they should: How dare they? I can't believe it. I don't deserve to be treated like--Shut up, Christie.

Do a self-check quickly by answering this question: When was the last time you considered someone else better than yourself? 

Parents, don't say "every day with my kids" because we need to humble ourselves in parenting too. Are you serving your kids with joy and love? Are you frustrated because they won't act like little adults all the time? Don't you want that so you can have time for yourself? Yep, I thought so. Same here. I failed the check-up. 

If you are married, when is the last time you considered your husband or wife better than yourself? Do you serve him or her only to be served in return? Do you dislike the way your spouse did something especially after you've told him/her a thousand times to do it? Ladies, do you nag your husbands? Men, do you ignore your wives?

What about your boss, your co-workers, your friends, your fellow church members, your pastor, or your neighbors? Do you look down on them? Do you serve them? Do you judge their motives, not knowing their hearts like God does? 

God calls us to have a completely different attitude than what the world expects in all relationships.
  

The Cure

"Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves." Philippians 2:3 (ESV)

"The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life." Proverbs 22:4 (ESV)

How can we beat pride's grip on us? Proverbs 22:4 makes it clear: We must humble ourselves before God and fear Him. Our relationship with God will mirror our relationships with others. If we humble ourselves daily before His throne, He will grant us the grace to treat others as "more significant" (Phil. 2:3). I know this personally because when I was faced with others' sins against me, God broke me, showing me I am just as guilty as they. God painfully humbled me to the point that I was on my face before Him begging His forgiveness for my own sins. I had no pride left. By the work of the Holy Spirit, the only way I was able to reach this point was through intense prayer and Bible reading, which led me to kiss one of my offender's feet, and I did. Literally. God may want you to do the same to someone. He may want you to wash someone's feet. Or he may want you to humble yourself by saying simply, "I'm sorry" or "I forgive you." No matter what, God is calling you to humble yourself. Go to www.BibleGateway.com and do a keyword search on humble or humble yourself or humility to see everything God has to say about this topic in His Word. Be prepared to be convicted.

It's sad how many people live their entire lives sick with pride. The homeless person on the street corner needs humility, not your cold shoulder. That hurting co-worker needs your humility, not your judgement. Those hateful church members need your humility, not your condemnation. Your family doesn't need impatience and hostility from you. Guess what? They need your humility too.

So join me, please, and let's humble ourselves before the Lord today. May our actions bless others as we seek to glorify God and to remember that it's not about us.