Pride is a funny thing

Psalm 10:4 tells us: 

"In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God."

The psalmist recognized this shortcoming in men thousands of years ago. It hasn’t gotten any better since

Women joke that men will drive around lost for an hour rather than stop and ask directions. We’re that way in the rest of our life as well. God, the source of all wisdom, is eager to give us the direction we need, yet we’ll take one dead end after another rather than ask him for help. Jesus was different from us. He constantly sought his Father’s leading. His character was flawless, free from the pride we display. Instead of trying to make it on his own, he depended heavily on the Father and the Holy Spirit.

 If our pride weren’t bad enough, we men are also slow learners. We refuse God’s help, mess things up, then a year or five years or ten years later we do the same thing. It’s hard for us to overcome our need for independence. 

How to Break the Cycle

 

How do we break this cycle of pride? How do we get into the habit of asking God for help, not just in big things but every single day? 

First, we remember what Christ has already done for us. He saved us from our sins, something we could never do on our own. He became the pure, spotless sacrifice we could never be, the only offering that would satisfy God’s perfect justice. His willingness to die in our place proves his immense love. That kind of love will deny us no good thing. 

Second, we reflect on our need for help. Every Christian man has enough failures in his past to remind him that going it alone simply hasn’t worked. We shouldn’t be embarrassed by our failures; we should be embarrassed because we were too arrogant to accept God’s help. But it’s never too late to remedy that. 

Third, we should learn from other Christian men who have humbled themselves and daily rely on God for help. We can see the victories in their lives. We can marvel at their maturity, their calmness, their faith in a trustworthy God. Those same admirable qualities can become ours, too. 

There’s hope for every one of us. We can live the life we’ve always dreamed of. Pride is a sin we can overcome, and we start by asking God for help.