Pride Versus Humility

Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all – William Temple.

The evils in this world can be categorized under three (3) main headings. They are the lust of the flesh; the lust of the eyes; and the pride of life. Life is full of proud people and things. To be proud means feeling pleased and satisfied about doing or having done or owing something; having a proper amount of self-respect; having or showing a high opinion of oneself; and having an exaggerated opinion of personal worth or abilities. Thus contrary to popular public opinions, pride, like anxiety, is not necessarily evil but neutral. This means that depending on a particular set of facts, being proud may be good or evil! However, there is a thin line between pride and humility. Psychologists have said that humility might best be understood relationally. Relational humility means that we experience another person as humble in a particular relationship. Everett L. Worthington Jr. wrote, “We can say that a person is humble if four (4) conditions are met”. If we -
1. believe that the person closely matches our ideal picture of a humble person;
2. believe the person does not overestimate his or her position in relation to God or humanity;
3. trust that, in our relationship, the person will treat us with dignity even if our needs, goals, and priorities conflict with his or hers; and
4. believe the person would freely share himself or herself with someone who is needy.


Therefore, the ideal picture of humility includes being selfless, modest and humane. Thus a humble person must demonstrate the positive “other-oriented” emotions such as empathy, compassion, love and sympathy. That person must also be willing to share himself or herself with others and to submit to God, to goodness, to humanity, virtue, the needy and, in his or her relationship with other persons, attuned to their needs. Jesus Christ is the epitome of humility. Humility does nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. It considers others better than itself. Philippians 2:3-4 commands us not to look only to our own interests, but also to the interests of others. God resists the proud but exalts the humble.
It is a sad commentary that many people misplace pride with humility and vice versa. They unfortunately tag the proud as humble, and the humble as proud. Such people are simply proud.
Pride is saying or doing anything that is contrary to God’s Word. Thus humility is not overestimating oneself or something in relation to God or humanity. It is a life that is totally surrendered to Jesus Christ. Humble people always relate to Jesus as both their only Saviour and Lord. They live for Jesus Christ and for the good of humanity. Knowing Jesus more and more is their priority. God’s Word is the basis for their actions and inactions. Humility means loving God by obeying and serving Jesus, and loving your neighbour as yourself. Are you a humble person?
Richard Obeng Mensah, author of Persecutions are Promotions. borncapy@yahoo.com/www.richard-obeng-mensah.blogspot.com.