Embracing Humility                                      

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”  Proverbs 16:18

“Leaders who fail to prune their pride will meet demise. That’s not a guess, it’s a guarantee. With pride, it’s not a matter of ‘if’ we will fall, but ‘when’. There are no exceptions” - John Maxwell

“According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. (Sexual immorality), anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere flea bites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind” - C.S. Lewis

“God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6

• Do you overemphasize your achievements, contributions, or accomplishments?

• Do you have a difficult time admitting a mistake or simply saying you’re sorry?

• Do you resist the invitation to serve? Whether it be at the church or elsewhere? 

• Do you receive feedback and criticism well? 

• Do you have a hard time being vulnerable with other people?

• Do your thoughts of yourself outweigh what God’s word says about you?

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” Romans 12:2

Thinking others first looks a lot more like a discipline than it does a decision.

“(Christ) Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:8

“You shall have no other gods before Me.” Exodus 20:3

“So that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world” Philippians 2:15