Tips to Destroy Pride…

Tips to Destroy Pride (and Create Humility) Read: Romans 4:25

Habit:

Character Formation How would you create silence?

Would you focus intently on trying to hear the hush?

Probably not. That would simply make you more aware of the noises around you.

Instead, to create silence you must actively remove all noises until none remain.

Only after eliminating noise will you have created the condition of silence.

Humility is similar in that we create the conditions for its existence by eliminating pride.

Pride, the principal sin of the human heart, is the idolatry of the self.

Pride is like a reality distortion field that prevents us from seeing God, our neighbors and ourselves as they truly are.

It causes us to exalt ourselves, depreciate others and dismiss our absolute dependence on God.

John Calvin was right when he said, “the human heart is an idol factory. Every day we create new idols of the self, idols that must be smashed.”

Here are two ways you can destroy pride:

➤ Recognize your utter dependence—An essential way we kill pride is by learning to recognize our utter dependence on God.

Pride causes us to forget we are creatures whose very existence is contingent on God’s continuous action.

Humility comes as we develop the habit of acknowledging that no action we take can be done apart from God’s providence.

As Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5).

The universe is so radically contingent on God that it would cease to exist without his continuous sustainment.

God’s daily work of preserving and governing the world cannot be separated from the act of calling the world into existence.

Not only did God create us; but every moment of our continued existence is caused directly by God’s action.

Recognizing we can do nothing apart from God destroys our pride.

➤ Focus on the cross—We recognize the theological significance of Jesus’ crucifixion in an abstract, theological way. But how often do we really think about what it means that Jesus was nailed to a cross to purify us of our sins (see Ro 4:25)?

By meditating on the death of Jesus we can see ourselves in proper perspective.

As Charles Spurgeon said, “Pride cannot live beneath the cross!”

Pride is like a reality distortion field that prevents us from seeing God, our neighbors and ourselves as they truly are.

PRACTICAL TAKEAWAY: Destroying pride is accomplished by focusing on the cross and our dependence on God.

[From Lifehacks Study Bible]

Good advice… Come join the Adventure!

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