There are many sins that cause trouble for Christians today, but one of the least understood is pride. We know what lust and greed look like, but sometimes pride can be subtle. Can you think of anyone in your congregation that has a real problem with greed, lust or anger? Perhaps not. These sins are found in private, behind closed doors. Can you think of anyone who has a problem with pride? I suspect you can, but even if you can't think of anyone, I'll wager that there is someone you're having trouble getting along with, or simply don't like and that pride is at the center of that situation and neither one of you realizes it.

It's easier to begin by understanding what humility is, for humility is the opposite of pride. Humility is not modesty or self-deprecation. There is no honor or value in trying to pretend that you have not done well when someone compliments you on an achievement. It does no good to pretend that something you have created is terrible when it is obviously very good. This is not humility - it's pride masquerading as modesty. People do this because they want you to think they are humble. They are proudly drawing your attention to their modesty!

Humility means that in all situations, you take pleasure in goodness, and give all glory and honor to God. If you are a musician and someone writes a beautiful song to glorify God, you should be equally pleased if you are the composer, or if the composer is someone you do not really like. If you lead a person to Christ, you should be very pleased, but should be just as pleased if they had come to Christ on their own. This is real humility, and when you see the opposite of this - the lack of any ability to take pleasure from a good thing unless you can derive some recognition - you find the real meaning of pride.

Pride lies behind all sorts of conflict in our families, our work and our churches. Think of the parishioner who exclaims "That sermon was terrible" when really it was a fine sermon, but it was delivered by the new Associate Pastor that got the job over their brother-in-law. This kind of thing is going on all the time. We need to see good things for what they really are, and stop looking at who they come from. All good things ultimately come from God and belong to Him. When we try to suppress and diminish them for our pride's sake, God is the one we are hurting the most.