Introduction: (Pride is a difficult problem to overcome. The key to overcoming pride is humility. This may seem oversimplified, but it is true. You can defeat pride in yourself by practicing humility. Follows is a discussion of humility, what it means, its characteristics, and how it helps overcome pride.)
I. What It Means To Be Humble: (To be humble essentially means to be empty of self and full of God. It creates the attitude; God is, and I m not!)
1. Humble In Mind: Phil. 2:3 (Humility starts in the mind. You must work on your attitude.)
2. Humble Toward God: Jas. 4:10 (You must humble yourself before God. This will mean his will becomes more important to you.)
3. Humble Toward Others, Meek: Titus 3:2 (Meekness is similar to humility. Meekness generally involves an outward expression, disposition.)
II. Overcoming Pride With Humility:
1. The Essence Of Pride: (Remember from the study on pride that the essence of pride is to be full of self and empty of God.)
2. Reversing The Process: Eph. 3:16-19, Phil. 1:11 (The obvious thing to do is to fill yourself with God. Being filled with God involves making his priorities your priorities. It will cause you to root your life in godly living. Follows are steps that will help you to fill yourself with God.)
A. Respect God: Isa. 66:2 (An essential part of learning humility is gaining a respect for God s word. This helps you make his teaching your priority, not your own values.)
B. Your Smallness: Ps. 8:3-4 (You must see yourself as small in God s scheme of creation. This helps you knock yourself off the pedestal.)
C. Realize Weakness: Rom. 7:18 (Replace your prideful feelings with a realization that your flesh is weak and undisciplined.)
D. Humble Yourself Before God: 1 Pet. 5:6 (This leads up to humbling yourself before God, letting him guide your life.)
E. Express Shame: Prov. 30:32 (Expressing your shame, remorse and repentance to God and others will help you overcome pride. This will wound your pride, but what better way to kill it than to wound it.)
III. Other Things To Remember:
1. Realize Love Overcomes Pride: 1 Cor. 13:4 (Love, by its nature, will defeat pride.)
2. Realize Pride Yearns For Fame But Brings Humiliation: Prov. 11:2, Prov. 16:18 (Pride cannot deliver what it promises and demands. It is hopeless and futile.)
4. Realize Pride Is A Hopeless Trap: Prov. 26:12 (Understanding the nature of pride will help you to see its futility, motivating you to overcome it.)
5. Don t Glory In Self, Glory In God: Jer. 9:23 (This is something specific you can do. In every situation, avoid taking credit for yourself and give God the glory. Seek to exalt him in your words and deeds.)
6. Never Take Credit For What God Has Done: Dan. 2:30 (Whatever ability you have is a blessing from God. So when you accomplish something great you have nothing to boast of.) II Cor. 3:5 (Give God the glory for your ability instead of heaping the glory on yourself.)
7. Realize You Can Always Do Better: 1 Cor. 8:1-2 (Realize that no matter how smart/good you are, you should be smarter/better.) Lk. 17:10 (No matter how well you have done, you can always do better.)
8. Remember Your Past Mistakes: Deut. 9:7 (If you start feeling too good about things you can always reflect on your past which is certainly littered with many mistakes.)
IV. Blessings Of Humility:
1. Spiritual Greatness: Mt. 18:2-4 (Humility brings spiritual greatness. It helps you to be effective in God s kingdom.)
2. Quality Of Life: Prov. 22:4 (Humility helps you to find the best that life has to offer.)
3. Exaltation: Mt. 23:12 (God will exalt you in a proper way if you practice humility.)
4. Honor: Prov. 15:33 (The honor that pride craves only comes by humility.)