Pride Isn’t Just Thinking Too Highly of Yourself

newfireministriesi
2 minutes ago
2 min read

When most people hear the word pride, they think of arrogance—someone who thinks they’re better than everyone else, looks down on others, or believes they don’t need God’s instruction. While that is pride, it’s only part of the picture.

Biblically speaking, pride is much deeper—and much more subtle.

Pride is anything that sets itself up against what God says and makes life about self.

That means pride isn’t just saying, “I’m too good to follow God’s Word. "Pride can also sound like, “I’m not good enough to live the way God wants me to live.”

Both statements are rooted in the same place: self.

Pride Has Two Faces—And Both Reject God’s Truth

We often recognize pride when it shows up as self-exaltation. But we miss it when it disguises itself as self-disqualification.

Pride isn’t only a blown-up view of how great you think you are. It can also be a distorted view of how low you think you are.

It shows up in thoughts like:

“I’m too broken.”
“I’ve failed too much.”
“I’m too tired, too weak, too inconsistent.”
“God could never really use me.”

Those thoughts may feel humble, but they are still centered on self—and they still contradict what God has spoken.

Pride says, “My assessment of myself matters more than God’s declaration over me.”

The Gospel Shifts the Focus Off of You

The truth is, God never said we were enough on our own.

But He did say we are enough through Christ.

Scripture tells us that it is through Jesus that we have confidence to approach God—not because of our strength, our discipline, or our performance, but because of His finished work.

Our confidence isn’t found in how well we think we’re doing. Our confidence is found in who Christ is and what He has done.

Identity Settles the Pride Question

If God calls you a son, you are a son. If God calls you a daughter, you are a daughter.

Not because you earned it—but because Christ secured it.

We are not too good for God. And we are not not good enough for God.

We are who God says we are.

Anything that causes us to live outside of that truth—whether through arrogance or insecurity—is pride.

Walking in True Humility

True humility is not thinking less of yourself. True humility is thinking of yourself less and trusting God more.

It’s laying down both self-exaltation and self-condemnation and choosing to agree with God’s Word over your own thoughts, feelings, or past experiences.

When we stop making life about ourselves—either positively or negatively—we make room for God’s truth to shape how we live, love, and walk in freedom.