Pride Destroys Relationships, Humility Builds Them

In review of Philippians 2:3b it says, “Be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves”

Bottom Line:

Don’t be selfish, rather be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves

What this means to me:

I am to change from being selfish, proud or conceited. Instead I am to be humble and consider others as being better than myself.

Pride will always destroy a relationship. It will show up in a lot of different ways, such as criticism, competition, stubbornness, and superficiality.

A major problem with pride is it is self-deceiving. Everybody else can see it in us but us. When you have a problem with pride, it's almost as if I have blinders on, I won’t see it.

Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride leads to destruction; a proud attitude brings ruin” (NCV). This verse is even better in the Message translation: “First pride, then the crash; the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.”

While pride destroys relationships, humility is its antidote. Humility will build my relationships. The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:8, “Live in harmony, be sympathetic, love each other, have compassion, and be humble” (GWT).

In order to grow in humility? I need to let Jesus Christ control my thoughts, heart, attitude and reactions. He’s got to be a part of this. Ephesians 4:23-24 says, “Let the Spirit change your way of thinking and make you into a new person” (CEV).

So how do I start to think in a different way? The basic law of relationships is this: You tend to become like the people you spend time with. If I spend time with grumpy people, I’ll get grumpier. If you spend time with happy people, I’ll get happier. If you want to have more humility, spend time with Jesus Christ. He is humble. He wants a relationship with me. He wants me to spend time with him in prayer and reading his Word and talking to him. He is humble, and as I get to know him, I’ll become more like him.

“Be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves … You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to” (Philippians 2:3b, 5-6 NCV/NLT).

No one has done anything more humble than Jesus, coming from Heaven to Earth to become a man, live for us, give his life for us, and be resurrected for us. When I spend time with him, it makes me more humble, and that will build my relationships.