We all have pride. It is embedded in our veins right from our mother’s womb. It’s an inheritance passed down from generation to generation. It’s in our DNA. It’s that thing that makes us feel more important than others. It’s that thing that makes us think we deserve better than others. It’s that thing that makes us strive for the best in life. We see it in other people, and we emulate it. The dictionary describes it as self-esteem or self-importance. If you like, you can call it self-respect or self-worth. It’s all the same meaning. Some of us have it more than others.
As we travel through life’s journey, we’ve acquired it as a skill. We have fanned it into flame beyond God’s original intention for self-esteem, and we have turned it into pride. We have turned up that self-respect a notch, and we have pumped ourselves up above everybody else, way beyond what it should be. We view ourselves as bigger, better, smarter or richer than others. We cherish ourselves much more than we cherish the people in our lives. We are self-focused, self-centred and self-conceited. We have turned ourselves into the gods of our lives, and we hardly ever listen to anybody else in our lives. Pride is not a good attribute to have. It’s not a good thing to acquire or to cherish. It actually leads to one’s downfall.
My Story
I was recently challenged by a statement from a colleague who called me proud. This sent me crying to God. I have never seen myself as proud, but this colleague was not the first person to say this statement to me, and it made me wonder whether it is actually true. After all, when two or three people are saying the same thing about you or to you, it’s probably the right time to go for a check-up as they may be right in their sayings.
I took my check-up to the Lord in prayer. I had to examine my heart and clean it up from pride. I cried out to God in prayer, “Search me, Lord, take away pride from my heart. Uproot its root from within me. Cut me off from the flow of pride. Stop its venom from flowing through my veins and give me a heart of humility”. I prayed and prayed, and a test came.
Reasons Jesus was tested for pride
Jesus was also tested for pride. His Father in Heaven allowed satan to tempt Jesus over pride. If Jesus called himself the son of God, how could he show the character of his father in himself to the world? Was he really the son of God, or were they all babblings? The tempter needed to examine Jesus on this pride issue, and he asked Jesus twice; “If you are the son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” and “If you are the son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written” (Matthew 4:6).
Jesus had the power and authority to do whatever he liked, and if he could multiply two fishes and five loaves of bread to feed five thousand people, surely he was capable of commanding a stone to turn into bread for his own sake. He had, after all, been in the wilderness for forty days and forty nights without food, and he was hungry. But Jesus was not focused on himself. He was focused on his father’s business. He was more focused on what God had to say about everything. And Jesus was actually Lord over satan, so satan could not make him do what was inappropriate. Hence, Jesus’ response; “One does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” and “Again, it is written, do not put the Lord your God to the test” (Matthew 4:4-7).
We are all tempted by the evil desires of our hearts (James 1:13), but we can overcome them through Jesus. He was pure, and He had no sin. He had no evil desires in his heart either, but he was tempted by pride for our sake. All that Jesus was about was about doing the Father’s will, yet the devil tempted him. I believe the devil was allowed to tempt Jesus so that we can know that nobody is above temptation. I also believe that since Jesus is our Lord and our big brother, he was allowed to be tempted so that we can emulate him and know how to respond in the face of temptation. I also believe that Jesus was allowed to be tempted so that we can know that He is Lord even over temptation, pride and Satan.
If Jesus overcame pride after being tempted by pride, this means we can also overcome pride when we hide in Jesus. Since Jesus is Lord over everything, including Satan and pride, then we can have victory and dominion over pride in Jesus, who is our Lord. When we make Jesus our Lord and Saviour, we can have pride under our feet just as it is already under the feet of Jesus. The spirit of pride does not have a hold or any power over you when you make Jesus your Lord and Saviour.
Are you struggling with pride, and would you like to give it up? Jesus already has victory in that area, and since Jesus is for you, you, too, can have victory over pride. All you need to do is proclaim the Lordship over yourself, renounce your right to pride, and choose to hide in the power of Christ. Speak the following biblical declarations over yourself, and you can change your world for good.
Speak the word and change your world for good.
Day 1
I declare that Jesus is the Lord of my life, and only His kingdom shall rule in my life. I have no inheritance in pride; my heritage is in the kingdom of God.
Day 2
I declare that I have the attitude and mind of Christ, who did not see himself as equal to God but humbled himself and obeyed His father to death. Therefore, I submit myself to the heavenly father and choose to obey His instructions for the rest of my life. I give up on the spirit of pride and embrace the spirit of humility that was in Christ Jesus. Henceforth, Pride will no longer rule over me.
Day 3
I declare that my steps are ordered by the Lord, and I shall humbly walk in the footsteps of my saviour. I will not be condescending, self-conceited and overly self-important, but I will focus my gaze on Jesus as he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake.
Day 4
I accept Jesus in my heart, and everything that is prideful must flee at His presence. Henceforth, Jesus reigns in my heart, and I see others as Jesus sees them. I accept people just as Christ wants me to accept them, and I walk in the ways of Christ in accordance with the grace He has bestowed upon me.
Day 5
I declare that Jesus occupies my heart, and Pride must flee from me. Jesus is the Lord of my heart, and pride has no place to rule or reign over me.
Day 6
Since I am seated in heavenly places with God in Christ Jesus, pride has no seat in my life. Therefore, I dethrone its kingdom in my heart and demolish its altar in my life by the power that Christ bestows on me.
