Tag Archives: pride

June 19, 2025 · 5:30 AM

The Lies Of Pride

Have you ever been at an event where it’s pretty much over and it’s time to clean up, but no one is helping? You pick up the chairs and tables. People move out of your way, but no one helps. Then you get down to the last few and people all of a sudden want to help. You say, “Don’t worry about it. I got it,” but I side you’re a little mad. Your thought process inside is that at this point, you want credit for doing the whole thing so later when you tell the story, no one helped you. It’ll get you more sympathy from whoever you tell it to, plus their rage at the lack of someone helping. That’s pretty much human nature to act and think that way, but it’s also prideful because you’re seeking full credit.

Pride is strange that way. It masks itself so that it doesn’t look like itself. In 2 Kings 5, Naaman had leprosy and wasn’t sure what to do about it. His servant girl that he had taken from Israel told him about Elisha. When he went to visit him, Elisha didn’t even come out to greet him. Instead he sent his servant out to tell him what to do. This hurt his pride. What’s more is that Elisha instructed him to simply dip in the Jordan seven times and he would be healed. Now his pride was on full display because he refused to do such a simple task for his healing. His servants convinced him to do it. When he got over his pride, he dipped in the water and was healed.

1 Peter 5:6-7 says, “So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (NLT). Why are these two verses together? Because pride is often what keeps us holding onto our pain, worries and burdens. We like the sympathy we get and we’re too stubborn to ask for help with them. We’ll just handle it ourselves! However, God wants us to humble ourselves, admit we have cares, problems and worries so that He can help us. It takes getting over our pride in order to ask for help. It takes humbling ourselves to give them to Him. Don’t spend another day believing the lies of pride. Do what God asks and get your healing. He’s ready to take them from you and carry your burdens if only you’ll let Him.

Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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August 7, 2023 · 5:44 AM

Casting Your Burdens

Unfortunately one of the things that is part of our human nature is a desire to do things on your own. Don’t believe me? Try helping a two year old. They’ll snap back, “I can do it on my own!” They often refuse your help, sometimes to their detriment. That nature doesn’t really change. It lives in all of us. People offer us help all the time, but we refuse it under the guise of not wanting to be a burden to them. The truth is that we all need help from others, but we carry these burdens by ourselves and refuse help or to give them up. Some people like the pity and attention they receive. Some don’t know how to accept help. Some have too much pride to let anyone help. No matter why, you weren’t created to carry burdens by yourself.

The Pharisees in the New Testament were some of the most self righteous people you would meet, and Jesus called them out on it. He wasn’t mad at them for trying to follow the Law. He got upset at them for putting extra burdens on the people. He got upset when they added to His Law. He knew people had enough things they were carrying around and didn’t like people putting unnecessary burdens on people in His name. The Pharisees wore carrying burdens it as a badge of honor and holiness. They flaunted how big of burdens they carried and did it to get respect from people. Jesus constantly called them out for this because that’s not His plan for us.

1 Peter 5:6-7 says, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God [set aside self-righteous pride], so that He may exalt you [to a place of honor in His service] at the appropriate time, casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully]” (AMP). God has called us to humility, not self righteousness. Carrying our own burdens is not a sign of strength. We need to set aside our self righteous pride and cast our cares and burdens on Him. Yes, you can do it on your own, but why live like that when you don’t have to? Be humble enough to give them to Him. Be humble enough to ask others for help. Freedom begins with humbling yourself and casting them at the feet of Jesus.

Photo by Mukuko Studio on Unsplash

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July 18, 2022 · 5:50 AM

The Lies Of Pride

Have you ever been at an event where it’s pretty much over and it’s time to clean up, but no one is helping? You pick up the chairs and tables. People move out of your way, but no one helps. Then you get down to the last few and people all of a sudden want to help. You say, “Don’t worry about it. I got it,” but I side you’re a little mad. Your thought process inside is that at this point, you want credit for doing the whole thing so later when you tell the story, no one helped you. It’ll get you more sympathy from whoever you tell it to, plus their rage at the lack of someone helping. That’s pretty much human nature to act and think that way, but it’s also prideful because you’re seeking full credit.

Pride is strange that way. It masks itself so that it doesn’t look like itself. In 2 Kings 5, Naaman had leprosy and wasn’t sure what to do about it. His servant girl that he had taken from Israel told him about Elisha. When he went to visit him, Elisha didn’t even come out to greet him. Instead he sent his servant out to tell him what to do. This hurt his pride. What’s more is that Elisha instructed him to simply dip in the Jordan seven times and he would be healed. Now his pride was on full display because he refused to do such a simple task for his healing. His servants convinced him to do it. When he got over his pride, he dipped in the water and was healed.

1 Peter 5:6-7 says, “So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (NLT). Why are these two verses together? Because pride is often what keeps us holding onto our pain, worries and burdens. We like the sympathy we get and we’re too stubborn to ask for help with them. We’ll just handle it ourselves! However, God wants us to humble ourselves, admit we have cares, problems and worries so that He can help us. It takes getting over our pride in order to ask for help. It takes humbling ourselves to give them to Him. Don’t spend another day believing the lies of pride. Do what God asks and get your healing. He’s ready to take them from you and carry your burdens if only you’ll let Him.

Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash

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March 30, 2022 · 5:57 AM

The Heart Of A Servant

God put something inside of us that makes us feel good when we’re treated as an important person. Have you ever been the guest of honor before? Or been the most important person in the room? Or treated like royalty when you’ve visited somewhere? When something like that happens, we often say, “I could get used to this!” It’s a natural response to feel that way. What isn’t natural is to be in a moment or place like that, then excuse yourself from being the center of attention to plunging toilets. Most of us would ask someone else to do it so we wouldn’t mess up our clothes or stop the doting on us. However, that’s the example Jesus gave us to follow.

On the night before the Passover, which was a foreshadowing of what Jesus was about to do, He and the disciples were having dinner. John 13:3 says, “Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God” (NLT). He had all authority in the universe in this moment. He knew He was heading back home, yet He noticed no one had washed their feet as was the custom. Instead of telling someone to call a servant or instead of asking a disciple to wash the feet, He did it. Verses 4-5 say, “So He got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel He had around him.”

Doug Stringer, a ministry friend at Somebody Cares, says, “While men reach for thrones to build their own kingdom, Jesus reached for a towel to wash men’s feet.” When Jesus reached the moment His whole life had been pointing to, and had been given all authority, He showed us what to reach for. He denied the pride that lives within all of us and reached for the towel of humility. He served those He was about to die for, including Judas. The example Jesus gives is what He said over and over. If you want to be great in His kingdom, you must reach for a towel and serve. While it feels good to be the center of attention, and to have our ego stroked, it’s eternally better to have the heart of a servant.

Photo by Danique Tersmette on Unsplash

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January 10, 2022 · 5:47 AM

Our Motivation Matters

Do you ever stop to think about who benefits from your actions? In a lot of cases, the things we do are designed to help us benefit from our actions. If we benefit from our actions, is it also fair to say, we do things to get recognition as well? Since we were babies, we have been conditioned to try to do things for applause. When you clap for a baby, their face lights up. When they start talking, they say, “Look at me,” and then they do something to try to get praise. Unfortunately, when this transitions into adulthood, it becomes something that can inflate our pride. When that happens, we begin to be controlled by what other people think.

Pride is very dangerous. Look at King Saul. He started off very humble. When Samuel found him, he referred to himself as a man from the smallest tribe and the least important family. After he became king, that humility left him and pride took its place. He made decisions that benefited himself rather than God or others. It got the the point that God was sad that he ever made Saul king. When Samuel went to Saul to break the news that God was going to take the kingdom away from him in 1 Samuel 15, Saul was setting up a monument to himself. Pride had taken over Saul’s life to the point he only cared about what God wanted when he got caught or was in a bind.

Romans 8:5 says, “Those who are motivated by the flesh only pursue what benefits themselves. But those who live by the impulses of the Holy Spirit are motivated to pursue spiritual realities” (TPT). When pride is in the driver’s seat of our life, we do things that benefit ourselves and bring us glory. 1 Peter 5:5 tells us that God is opposed to the proud. We must learn to seek God rather than the praise of men. Romans 8 draws a line between those who are Spirit minded and fleshly minded. The fruit of our lives will show which mind we have. Our motivation matters and is the difference between being humble or filled with pride.

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May 6, 2021 · 5:30 AM

Releasing Stress

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Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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October 1, 2019 · 5:54 AM

Seeking God’s Help

If you’ve ever been around a two or three year old, you know how independent they can be. I wonder if we call them “terrible two’s” because they are trying to do things on their own and act like they no longer need our help. It’s the start of a lifetime of trying to be self sufficient. The problem is that they lack wisdom in doing the things they’re trying to be independent at, and as adults, we’re constantly trying to make sure their independence doesn’t get them hurt or allow them to break expensive things. They’re constantly saying, “I can do it!” While they can do many things, they often need help and an occasional rescue whether they believe it or not.

As we grow up, we carry that independent spirit with us. We feel accomplished when we do things on our own like get a job, make a major purchase or graduate. As our hair turns gray, we seem to have to prove we are competent and still able to do things on our own. The independence God placed in us is strong, but so is our dependence on Him. We were given this independent streak and a desire to do things greater than our abilities. The latter was designed to create a dependence on God for help, but our selfish pride often prevents us from seeking Him when we need help.

Isaiah 46:4 says, “I am your God and will take care of you until you are old and your hair is gray. I made you and will care for you; I will give you help and rescue you” (GNT). It doesn’t matter how old you get, God still has great things for you to do. He’s also right there with you through life’s accomplishments helping you along the way. Like a watchful parent, He stands by us, encouraging us and rescuing us when we need it. There’s no shame in asking for His help when we’ve bitten off more than we can chew. God takes pride in helping us out all throughout our lives, and He loves it when we reach out to Him and say, “I can’t do it. Can you help?” We need to drop the independent pride we’ve been carrying since our terrible two’s and let God help us. When we do, we will accomplish infinitely more than we thought possible.

Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

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August 20, 2018 · 5:00 AM

Releasing Stress

The unofficial motto of Generation X is, “If it is to be, it’s up to me.” We were the first generation to be latch key kids meaning both parents worked. We became self sufficient and took on responsibilities at an early age. We tend to look at situations and jump in if no one else is. We see a job that needs to be done, and we do it. We often take pride in doing things ourselves and in making things happen. That line of thinking extends to when we are stressed or worried too. We try to handle it ourselves because we’ve learned to do everything else alone.

In 1 Peter 5, the author writes about how God resists the proud. Then in verse 7 he writes, “Pour out all your worries and stress upon him and leave them there, for he always tenderly cares for you” (TPT). I was a little confused as I looked for a transition between the two statements and couldn’t find one. That’s when I realized that pride is usually what keeps us from giving our worries, our cares and our stresses to the Lord. We feel like we don’t need any help because we can do it. When we think we don’t need God’s help, that’s a bad thing. When we think we can do it on our own, that’s pride and God resists the proud.

God’s desire is that we live balanced lives. In order to do that, we have to be humble enough to hand things off to Him and leave them with Him. Many of us tell Him about our stresses, but we pick them back up after our prayer and carry them with us. That’s not good for our mind, our body or our spirit. We must trust God enough that we hand off our problems to Him, and we must be willing to not pick them back up. God cares for you enough that He doesn’t want you weighed down by worry or slowed by stress. He’s willing to take those things off of our hands and give us His burden which is light. We just have to be humble enough to make the trade.

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October 20, 2016 · 6:21 AM

A Blessing Thief


If I’m honest, I’d rather be a person who helps others than a person who receives help from others. It’s hard for me to accept help even when I need it. There have been times in my life though when I’ve needed help because I was unable to do what needed to be done. When others tried to help, I tried to push them away. Then one day, a person who was trying to help me said, “You’re robbing me of my blessing if you don’t let me help!” I had never thought of it like that.

I had forgotten that it is more blessed to give than to receive. I was definitely blessed by their giving, but I didn’t think about the blessing on the other side. I know they weren’t doing it for the blessing, but in my refusal, I was robbing them of what they would have received from God for helping me. Every act of service gets two blessings. By declining my blessing (which was a dumb thing), I was denying them theirs. So why do we reject help?

For me, I grew up in a family that needed the help of others often. God was always faithful to us and people showed up at the right times. I’ll never forget one family that helped me in particular. As they gave me a tremendous gift, I asked how I could repay them. They said, “One day when you’re able, do the same for others.” I decided then and there that I wanted to be a person who helped others rather than a person who needed help. So when I need help, it takes me back to that time and feelings of being the poor kid come up.

In Matthew 10, Jesus was sending out the disciples to preach all over Israel. He told them not to take any money, which meant they would be dependent on other’s help. He knew that needing help also keeps us humble. In verse 41 He spoke a life changing truth when He said, “Accepting someone’s help is as good as giving someone help” (MSG). By accepting help from others, you are actually helping them. They get a blessing from your acceptance. Don’t deny or rob others of blessings because of pride. Look at it as your way of helping them when you have nothing else to give. Don’t be a blessing thief.

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October 3, 2016 · 5:46 AM

Losing Pride


When I picture John the Baptist, I picture a Grizzly Adams kind of man. Bearded, tough, and furry clothes. The Bible describes him as a guy who lived in the wilderness and ate locust. I wonder what people thought of him when they saw him. I wonder if they took one look at his exterior, made a judgement, and discounted his message or dismissed him as crazy. Sure, on the outside, he was rough, but on the inside was a heart and spirit we should all strive to have.

I believe he was able to amass a great following based on his heart. How many people do you know who have charismatic personalities, yet are very humble? Those two things rarely go together. Usually the person who enjoys being the center of attention doesn’t give it up happily, but John knew his place and his calling. When Jesus came along, he had no problem yielding the stage to Him. To me, that’s what admire most about him.

When some of his followers came to him to tell him that Jesus was baptizing not far away, they expected him to get upset. After all, his name was John the Baptist. Baptizing people was kind of his thing. His followers were a lot like us. They didn’t like to yield the stage, and they really didn’t like that Jesus was taking people from their ministry. How dare He? After all, it was John who baptized Jesus. But John knew what was going on and he didn’t let his pride get in the way of his calling

In John 3:30, John showed us what was behind his wild and rough exterior when he told his followers, “He must become more important while I become less important” (GNT). That’s the attitude that each of us should strive for each day. We should make Jesus more important in our life while we become less important. We should understand that our lives were created to serve His purpose, not ours. Each day, we should be looking for ways to have Him increase in our lives. If you want to fulfill your purpose, you have to lose the pride that tries to make your name known so you can make Him known.

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