Pride Discovered in 12 Common Practices

1. Imagining that whatever strengths I have are somehow originating and sourced from and intrinsic to myself.
For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? 1 Cor. 4:7

2. Taking pleasure in reminiscing on and returning to my strengths.
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Gal. 2:20

3. Pretending my weaknesses are not really there or that they are not so many or at least that they are not so debilitating as they are.
Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times. John 13:37-38

4. Accepting my own judgments and conclusions without really opening them up to honest self-critique.
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:8

5. Arranging my schedule without time or investment in pleading for divine aid.
In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Heb. 5:7

6. Taking comfort when the constraints of accountability are slackened so that I may go on smoothly and unhindered in the path of my own making without the pinch of other godly eyes nearby.
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes… Pro. 12:15 All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight… Pro. 16:2 There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. Pro. 16:25

7. Nursing a pattern of thoughts that have a great deal of my own interests and a proportionally small platform for God and Christ and His Kingdom and eternal plan.
If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:26-27

8. Refusing to lean on and be amazed by the righteousness of Christ, or having once seen it to count it a small thing and only return to it infrequently or with a detached spirit.
I count all things to be loss… that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ… Phil. 3:8, 9

9. Retreating quickly to the comfort of “my view” in interpersonal problems not bothering to try on the perspective of others or even phrasing their concerns in words they would use.
In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12

10. Savoring the sweetness of my own plans, projects, and position especially because they are “mine.”
…‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built… by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’ … Immediately… he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle… Dan. 4:30, 33

11. Stretching out my desires past my position as a servant and creature.
…‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ Isa. 14:13-14

12. Picturing my friend’s, my wife’s, or my enemy’s face when I hear a convicting warning about some sin.
Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. Rom. 2:1