The Cure for Pride

by Skip Heitzig | January 12, 2024

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali once said, "There's not a man alive who can whup me. I'm too fast. I'm too smart. I'm too pretty. I should be a postage stamp. That's the only way I'll ever get licked." He was subsequently licked by Joe Frazier.

Pride is the only disease that makes everybody sick except the one who has it. It's one of the most destructive forces of all. King Solomon wrote, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). C. S. Lewis called it "the chief cause of misery for every nation and every family since the world began."

In the book of Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar showed his pride again and again. In chapter 4, after his wise men failed to interpret a dream of his, he called on the prophet Daniel. Daniel knew what the dream meant: for seven years, the most powerful man in the world would lose his mind, live like a beast in the field, and eat grass like an ox.

And Daniel was troubled by this. He said, "Oh, I wish this didn't apply to you," showing his care for the king. All true servants of God are like this—they don't relish God's judgment on unbelievers or proclaim doom with a smile. When Jesus saw the coming judgment of Jerusalem, He wept over it (see Luke 13:34-35).

Daniel then moved to compassionate confrontation. "Therefore, O king, let my advice be acceptable to you; break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity" (v. 27).

This echoed Isaiah 55:7: "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." That is the kind of counsel that must be given to anyone who is in sin, a gentle but firm confrontation. "If a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted" (Galatians 6:1).

The context for this kind of confrontation is relationship. If you have that established, you have both the right and a responsibility to lovingly confront. Every Christian, I believe, has this obligation. But make sure you meet the qualifications in Galatians 6:1. First, "You who are spiritual" means you must be saved and Spirit directed. Second, "Restore such a one" should speak to your motive. Third, "In a spirit of gentleness" means having the right attitude. And fourth, "Considering yourself lest you also be tempted" is a precaution.

God hates pride, but He is also "not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). In the end, Nebuchadnezzar was restored, and he praised God and said, "Those who walk in pride He is able to put down" (Daniel 4:37). Jesus said, "Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:14; see also James 4:6).

So, how can you cultivate humility in your life? Through prayer and dependence on God. Through worship, to remind you it's all about Him. Through service and encouragement, so your focus is on others and not yourself.

I pray we would follow Daniel's example of humility and be like Nebuchadnezzar when he "lifted [his] eyes to heaven, and…blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him" (Daniel 4:34).

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