Pride Brings Strife

By pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well-advised is wisdom.
– Proverbs 13:10 –

Perhaps the single greatest cause of strife in the body of Christ is pride. Not only does pride repel people and create division in our relationships, but it gives birth to countless other sins that also create division. Pride moves us to say hurtful things. Pride hardens our hearts to correction. It makes us feel justified in finding fault. Pride makes us defensive when confronted in our sin. It convinces us that we are always right and others are wrong. Pride makes us look down on others and makes us speak to them in a condescending way. Worst of all, pride never learns. It keeps offending people and causing disunity because it does not see a reason to change. Pride is foolishness.

When we are humble, on the other hand, we see our need for help. We recognize that we are capable of making mistakes, prone to see and speak wrongly. Humility can help us be “swift to hear, slow to speak, [and] slow to wrath” (James 1:19). It makes us open to correction, which helps us grow in wisdom over time. Humility moves us to repent when we wrong others, forgive those who wrong us, and reconcile relationships. Other people will be drawn to our humility because it gives off the pleasing aroma of Christ. By the grace of God in Jesus Christ, let us do everything in our power to be humble.