7 deadly sins and 7 life giving virtues series: 1st sermon pride and humility

One of the big problems with pride is that it is so evident in others and hardly at all in ourselves. It is fun to watch when some arrogant jerk gets his.
David: Toby Gaper
David was a guy in college who liked to talk big about his bike riding abilities. He bragged about being able to ride his bike more than 50 miles in under an hour. Professional bike racers don't even do that. We knew he was full of it, but he continued to talk. All of us on the bike team wanted to finally shut this guys mouth. He would never take a ride with us. Until one day after much badgering we were able to get him to join us. The reason we called him a toby gaper is that toby gaper was our term for a guy who thought he could ride well and couldn't. David showed up that day with floppy shoes (bike shoes have a stiff sole) hairy legs (we all shaved our legs for the purpose of when you fall it peels the first layers of skin off rather than grabbing and tearing the flesh deeply. Or so was our theory.) He told us he was ready to ride with us. We always took the first few miles at a leisurely pace to warm up and laugh and joke. When we reached the lake about 5 miles away we would start to be more aggressive in our riding. This day was different. I was sick and tired of Toby gaper doing his big mouthed talking. So right from the start I was pushing the pace. I rode hard all the way to the lake. A couple of the guys rode near me saying slow down man your killing us and you are going to drop him meaning leave him in the dust. When we arrived at the lake David was huffing and puffing. We all had a good sweat, but were ready for a big ride. David at this point says, "Hey guys I already rode 50 miles today so I am going to turn back." At that he left huffing and puffing all the way back to school. Liar!!! I was mad. I wanted to get him on the back side of the lake and drop him at about 15 miles out.
I thought now he will shut his mouth and be humbled. Actually he told a couple of friends that he didn't ride with us because we were too slow for him.
The rest of us explained how he couldn't keep up with us and was nearly dropped in the first couple of miles. With a group of witnesses we were able to shut his mouth. It felt good.
Why did I enjoy it so much? Because the person with the pride problem was not so much David as it was me.
The best pride detector is this: how much am I bothered by the pride of others? If I feel attacked, in my response, “Others are worse?” A strong indicator of pride is competitiveness.
In almost every list pride is considered the original or most serious sin, and the ultimate source of all other sins. It is the desire to be more important or attractive to others, failing to give credit due to others, or excessive love of self. Dante’s definition is love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one’s neighbor. Pride is the sin that says, I deserve this… or I don’t deserve that… anger, lust, envy, greed, gluttony, and laziness all come from pride.
The terrible thing about pride is that it is incredible deceptive. Jeremiah tells us that pride deceives the heart. The Bible also tells us that pride hardens the mind, brings contention, binds us in captivity like a chain, and brings destruction. A proud heart stirs up strife and is an abomination to the lord. A proud look God hates and those who engage in it will stumble and fall. Pride is the parent of discontent, ingratitude, presumption, passion, extravagance, and bigotry. There is hardly an evil committed without pride being connected in some sense. The early church fathers held that pride was the very essence of sin. Pride is always easier to see in others than it is in ourselves. Pride keeps the lights dim when we inspect our heart and shines brightly when we look at others.
It is why when we hear a sermon on pride we can think of hundreds of people who need to hear it, while missing the point this is about each of us. We need to hear it. Pride is about us. It would be great to keep our illusion of humility by pointing to others, saying: “But they are very proud. I really don’t think I am that great, but they do.” The best detector is how much are you bothered by the pride of others?
Scripture warns us that first Pride then the crash. Bike story at New Stine and Stockdale. One day while riding in Bakersfield I came up on a stoplight at one of the busiest intersections in town. My feet were clipped into my pedals and I didn't feel like unclipping them to stand and wait so I did what is called a track stand (Keeping your feet in the pedals holding the brakes and pushing on the pedals placing some tension and keeping your balance.) It looks pretty cool to see someone do that. I was thinking I was looking pretty cool doing that. In fact there were two cute girls in the car next to me watching. I was sure they were checking out my manliness as I did this track stand with impressive form. After waiting for a couple of minutes the light turned green. As I released the brake and was ready to push off and go I lost my balance and did the long slow fall to the gutter. It was not impressive. It was quite humiliating. The cute girls if not watching before were watching now and laughing.
The antithesis of pride is humility. Since God resists the proud we should learn to hate pride and clothe ourselves with humility.
But what is humility?
We know what it is when someone gets humbled.
Back door of church; thank for the sermon pastor, don’t thank me thank the Lord. I thought of that, but it wasn’t quite that good. That’s being humbled.
When we think of humility we usually think of people thinking less of themselves than they are. If not that then we think it is when we talk about our faults and shortcomings as compared with everyone else’s superiority and achievements. These are not humility.
Humility is a simple recognition of the truth about ourselves; and then most often, a forgetfulness of self that allows genuine concern for others and genuine worship of God.
Philippians 2:3-8
Jesus is a great example of humility.
How do people like us live like this? Our trouble is that we try to do before we ever be. We hear a sermon on pride and humility and we attempt to do humility while we attempt to stop being proud. Then we think we got it and we fail because we are proud of our humility. It is the dilemma humanity has lived with for centuries. How do I change?
Mark 7:20-23 warns us that the problem is the heart. Change who you are and what you do will be changed. You do what you be.
The issue is not so much the action as it is the heart that drives the action. If the heart is set straight then the doing will follow. The struggle of pride is not the struggle with doing as it is being proud. The problem is with the heart. Out of the heart proceed…pride. If you want to overcome the deadliest of the deadly sins start with the heart. Without a heart change you are doomed. Beg God for forgiveness for the sin of Pride. Ask God for a heart of humility and gratitude. Ask God to break your pride and replace it with a life of humility. Then when God changes your heart start doing what He makes you. Be grateful always. Treat even the things people are expected to do as great gifts. Be grateful for your food, your change at McDonalds, rain, life, your annoying neighbor… Be thankful and thank everyone.
It starts with the heart. Is your heart right?
The first requirement of pride is spiritual blindness. A glimpse of God reveals our frailty and sinfulness. When was the last time you looked at God and dealt with the reality of who you are in His presence? Change the heart and the rest will follow. Is your heart the heart God wants?