Pride

I said I'd blog some of the notes from the Pride study and I'm a woman of my word, so even though it's months later, here it is:

CULTIVATING HUMILITY

PRIDE is: contending with God for supremacy. With pride, there’s no room for God to be everything.

Pride is
1) Satanic (it’s the root of every sin & flaw that we have)
2) Competitive (at its core, it’s rivalry because it wants ME to be central & have the attention, not you)
3) Atheistic (you act like there’s not a God infinitely superior to you)

God’s view of pride: Job 25:2-6
Proverbs 6:16-17
Proverbs 16:5
1 Peter 5:5-6
Daniel 4:28-33, 37


****************** EXAMPLES OF PRIDE******************

1. If you’re caught up in a secret sin & concerned with how people would view you

2. Marriage conflicts (thinking “there’s no way my spouse is right in this”)

3. Unresolved conflict (you don’t want to humble yourself to whom the conflict is with)

4. Can you deeply rejoice when God provides & blesses someone when your needs are far greater?

5. Do you have to bring conversation back to you all the time? Have a story for everything? One up everyone?

6. Your 1st reaction to being corrected is to defend yourself or correct the person speaking/ Can you take correction with no resentment in your heart?

7. Complaining (you’re saying “that’s not good enough for me”)

8. At work do more of your thoughts go to how frustrating or stressful your job is or how blessed you are to have it?

9. If you’re prayerless (you believe you’re self-sufficient)

10. If you’re bitter (you’ve put your pain ahead of God’s command to forgive)

11. If you have low self-esteem (you’ve squeezed out God’s voice & you’re listening to YOUR opinion over GOD’S opinion)

12. You have an anger/temper problem (how dare you do that to ME? mentality)

13. Are you easily annoyed? (I’m better than this)

14. You’re angry at God (Who are you, God, to have arranged my life like this?)

15. You’re a quick crier (you like sympathy, hugs, attention- very needy- me me me)

16. If you need help & won’t admit it

17. Pride wearing “humility camo” (saying “I hate my hair” just so someone will say “No, it’s beautiful” – seeking complements)

18. Comparison pride (you think you’re prettier, smarter, etc.

19. Spiritual pride (holier than thou attitude)



HOW JESUS DEALT WITH PRIDE:

Mark 9:33-35
Mark 10:35-27, 41-45


INTENTIONAL PURSUIT OF HUMILITY

Phil 2:1-10
Humility: emptying myself so that God may be all/ Having a high view of who Jesus is so that it puts you in your place.

“The truth is this, Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you…” Andrew Murray, Humility


The Daily Battle of Purposefully Applying Truth (Morning Practices)

1)Reflect on the wonder of the cross of Christ
“How can anyone be arrogant when he stands beside the cross?” C.J. Mahaney
Col. 1:13-22
Col. 2:13-14
2 Cor. 5:21
1 John 4:9-10


2)Begin the day by acknowledging your need for God
Rom. 14:23
Rom. 8:5-13
Gal. 2:20


3)Express gratitude to God
James 1:17
1 Cor. 10:10


4)Practice Spiritual Disciplines
(ex. serving, fasting, worship, reading Bible, prayer)
1 Tim. 4:7

5)Cast your cares upon Him
Matt. 6:25-33
Phil 4:6
1 Peter 5:5-7


PRIDE IS THE ROOT OF ANXIETY:
Pride is self-sufficiency and self-reliance (Deut. 8:11-17)
Pride takes credit for what God alone does (Daniel 4:28-35)
Pride refuses to trust in God or is just anxious about the future (Prov. 28:25)



Times of Special Focus:
1)Study the attributes of God (Isaiah 40:9-33)

2)Study the gospel (Eph. 2:1-10, 1 Cor. 1:29)

3)Study the doctrine of sin…sin kills, steals, & destroys…
(Heb. 3:13, John 10:10, 1 Peter 2:11)