What does the Bible say about pride? Pride can be a positive personality trait, but it can also be negative, where someone thinks too highly of themself, often with a need to be better than others.

Perhaps the biggest problem with pride is that it is often so tough to recognize in our own lives. For example, there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Or consider the person who never allows anyone else to help them. Interestingly, some people call this pride while others call it shame. If you are ashamed of your vulnerabilities, you will hide them like a secret and never expose your need for help. On the other hand, if you are so prideful that you cannot possibly admit to having a weakness, you too will hide your mistakes or your need for help at all costs.

Let me share an example of how pride exposes itself. I remember when I turned in my first college English paper and thought it was perfect. Now imagine my shock when my professor gave me a C minus. My pride puffed up and I promptly made an appointment to straighten this professor out. In my pride I judged the professor’s teaching ability, his older age, his extra-long beard and weird personality. But the very moment I entered his office, he had me sit down and said, “Don’t say a word.” Then he handed me another student’s paper which had a large “A+” scrawled across the top. As I began to read, it became evident that the other student’s thoughts, plots and themes were WAY better than mine. His ideas and method of presentation were beautiful. Compared to my C minus paper, his was extraordinary.

Proverbs says, “Through overconfidence comes nothing but strife, but wisdom is with those who receive counsel” (Proverbs 13:10). Fortunately, and by the grace of God, I was humbled, swallowed my pride, and what I learned in this experience was the single most compelling moment of my entire college experience. More than forty years later, I’m still thankful for that wise teacher.

Of course, God knows how pride can hurt us so badly. Perhaps that is why he encourages us so many times in both the Old and New Testaments, to be wary of pride and thinking too highly of ourselves. A good summary of pride can be found in one very simple and straightforward sentence: “If anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Galatians 6:3).

Maybe we can take our eyes off the pride of other people and take a good look at our own.

Today is a good day to be extra humble before God and others. After all, we are little, fallible, and fragile people. We have no control over our birth or death, and very little control over most things in between those dates. Let’s be wise, humble and thankful to God!