We live in a prideful world. Scroll through social media or spend time with people and it’s obvious—we all want to be right, to be heard, and to have things go our way. Our culture tells us to stand tall, put ourselves first, and make life about us.
But Scripture tells us something very different. It exposes pride for what it is. Pride makes us feel strong for a moment, but it ultimately makes us weak. It poisons relationships, distances us from God, and leaves us guilty and empty. CJ. Mahaney says it well: “Pride is our greatest enemy and humility is our best friend.” His book, Humility:True Greatness shaped me deeply this year as I studied humility—especially Philippians 2:1–11, one of the most humbling passages in the Bible.
So here’s what I want us to see: the peril of pride, the priority of humility, the pattern of humility in Jesus, and some practical ways that we can, by God’s grace, grow in humility.
The Peril of Pride
Proverbs warns us 16:18 warns us,
“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Pride shows up in countless ways. It tells us to live for ourselves rather than in loving service to others. It drives us to chase pleasure, status, or approval instead of God’s glory. It makes us critical, afraid to show weakness, and resistant to correction.
John Stott once said, “Pride is the essence of all sin.” Pride is self-glorification—my way, not God’s way. That’s why it’s so dangerous.
The Priority of Humility
If pride destroys, humility restores.
Proverbs 22:4 encourages us,
“The reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honor and life.”
According to C.S. Lewis, humility isn’t thinking less of yourself—it’s thinking of yourself less. CJ. Mahaney defines humility as honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness. It keeps us honest before God instead of comparing ourselves to others.
And humility is the place where God pours out His grace. James 4:6 says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Mahaney points out that God is personally supportive of the humble. Humility positions us to receive His help, to receive more of His glorious grace.
Pride clenches the fists. Humility opens the hands.
We need humility to come to Christ in the first place—“Blessed are the poor in spirit”—and we need humility to grow in Christ. Pride resists correction, resists obedience, and resists dependence. Humility makes fellowship, repentance, and growth possible.
The Pattern of Christ
Philippians 2:1–11 gives us the clearest picture of humility. If you have not read these words recently, I’ve included them here to read and, perhaps, commit them to memory.
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”Philippians 2:3-11
The picture of Jesus seen here gives us the most powerful picture of humility.
Though Jesus was fully God, He didn’t cling to His rights. He emptied Himself—not of His divinity, but of His privileges. He took the form of a servant. He became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross.
And because He humbled Himself, God exalted Him. In this, Jesus redefines greatness.
The way down is the way up.
Proverbs 29:23 says,
“One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.”
Humility before honor—that’s the pattern of Christ.
Practicing Humility
I think we all can admit, humility doesn’t come naturally. The Lord grows it in us through time in His Word, prayer, and simple daily practices.
Here’s a few.
- Start your day with gratitude and acknowledging your dependence on God, seeking His help, strength and wisdom.
- Begin the day in the Word, in prayer, and ask the Lord to give you a truth from His Word to hold onto through your day. This will help stifle the endless, often unhelpful, self-talk that is often willing to occupy the void.
- End your day with thanksgiving and confession, remembering that even sleep reminds us we’re not self-sufficient. Let that humble you and encourage your heart to praise God.
- Reflect often on the cross and on Gospel – the depths of which we cannot plumb.
- Study who God is, learn about His attributes.
- Do things you’re not good at and laugh at yourself.
- Celebrate God’s work in others.
- Confess sin regularly.
- Invite correction, especially from those who know you well.
- And in suffering, lean on the Lord, asking Him to use your trials to make you more like Christ.
Growing in humility is a lifelong battle. And, while these practices can be an active step for each of us, ultimately our growth in humility comes from the Lord by His grace.And strangely, the more we grow in humility, the more of our hidden pride we are able to see. Recently, the Lord allowed me to see a picture of this reality in, of all places, a kale salad.
A Picture of God’s Grace
I make a kale salad almost every week, often purchasing the kale in bags of pre-cut leaves. I’ve noticed, though, that these leaves often have tough little stems hiding in the centers of the tasty leaves. So, after removing what I think is all of the pesky stems, I typically pour on the dressing and start massaging it into the “stemless” kale leaves.
But, something interesting always happens: as the kale becomes softer, more tender—there are many more hard hidden stems that suddenly stand out.
And I realized—that’s what God’s grace does in our lives as He humbles us. It is by His grace that we grow in humility and as we grow in knowing Him in and in receiving that grace, we are humbled – we become softer like the kale leaves. Our tightly closed hands begin to be more open to the Lord’s guidance, to His correction, and to the goodness of His ways.
But at the same time, His grace reveals more of what was hidden—the pride, the hard spots still hiding behind our masks, the sins we didn’t even notice before.
So, what’s the point? God’s grace, as it humbles us, softens us and encourages us as we see His work growing us, but it also exposes us, showing us those areas that still need to be surrendered to Him.
The truth is….we need His softening, exposing, transforming grace every single day.
In closing, let’s review where we’ve been.
We have seen the peril of pride, our greatest enemy. We’ve seen the priority of humility, our best friend. We’ve seen the pattern of Christ, our perfect example in this. And, we have seen some ways we can practice this humility as the Lord works in us.
So, let’s ask ourselves…
Where is pride alive in my heart? Will I confess it to the Lord and others as needed?
In what ways is God calling me to practice humility today? Will I commit to pray for His help?
I know that He delights to answer that prayer for us.
