How do you overcome pride?

Quick Answer: How do you overcome pride? The reality is we believers are already set free from the power of sin, including pride, at the moment of salvation (Romans 6:2). As we fix our eyes on Jesus and bear the fruit of His Spirit in our lives, we won’t satisfy the desires of the flesh, including pride (Galatians 5:19-23).

Diving Deeper: The word “pride” is used in two principal ways in contemporary English. Having pride in a child or a spouse or a friend means you admire who they are and what they’ve achieved. You are proud of them. Having pride in your work is a way of saying, “I enjoy what I do, and I’m good at it.” This is not sin. Sinful pride is when we genuinely believe we are better than others, and that the universe revolves around us. This is pride from the flesh. This type of pride is no different than any other sin.

When we are born into this world, we are enslaved to sin, including pride (Colossians 2:13, Romans 6:20). We can try to overcome sin using willpower and religious rules. But we will never be able to free ourselves from bondage to sin. We need Someone else to do this. We need Jesus to give us new life (John 10:10). This is what happens to us at salvation.

If we try to tame the flesh, including pride, we will see sin multiplied in our lives. We are trying to master sin apart from God’s grace (Romans 7:8). Instead, we are to consider ourselves dead to pride and alive to humility. With this in mind, we can offer our bodies (brains, thoughts) to God to be an expression of Him in our attitudes (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:11).

There will always be someone who is better at something and has achieved more than we have. The answer to pride is not to try to think badly of yourself with a “martyr syndrome.” No, quite the opposite! The real answer to pride is to find contentment in who you are in Jesus Christ. As you count on your new identity in Christ and soak up God’s immense love for you (Ephesians 3:19), you will find those old ways of getting “righteousness” don’t seem to have the grip they once had.

Let’s Make It a Conversation!
1. Do you struggle with pride? If so, how have you tried to fight it? How does it work?
2. How does your new identity in Christ offer a solution to pride? (Consider your righteousness.)
3. React to this statement: Your new self is humble by nature.