Friday: Further Thought – Pride Versus Humility
Daily Lesson for Friday 17th of April 2026
Further Thought:
“The nearer we come to Jesus and the more clearly we discern the purity of His character, the more clearly we shall discern the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the less we shall feel like exalting ourselves.
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
Those whom heaven recognizes as holy ones are the last to parade their own goodness.”—Ellen G. White, Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 160.
“Before honor is humility. To fill a high place before men, Heaven chooses the worker who, like John the Baptist, takes a lowly place before God. The most childlike disciple is the most efficient in labor for God. The heavenly intelligences can co-operate with him who is seeking, not to exalt self, but to save souls. . . .
“When men exalt themselves, feeling that they are a necessity for the success of God’s great plan, the Lord causes them to be set aside. . . .
“It was not enough for the disciples of Jesus to be instructed as to the nature of His kingdom. What they needed was a change of heart that would bring them into harmony with its principles. . . . The simplicity, the self-forgetfulness, and the confiding love of a little child are the attributes that Heaven values. These are the characteristics of real greatness. . . .
“The sincere, contrite soul is precious in the sight of God. He places His own signet upon men, not by their rank, not by their wealth, not by their intellectual greatness, but by their oneness with Christ.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, Pages 436, 437.
Discussion Questions:
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Summary: Pride can be one of the greatest blocks to growing in a relationship with God. If we feel self-sufficient and don’t realize our need of this relationship, we simply won’t pursue it. In contrast, Jesus was the humblest Man on earth and the most perfect example of how to have a close relationship with God.
In lessons like we have been having this week we often fall back on quoting a lot of scripture about how good humility is and how bad pride is. And we can all make nice statements about following Jesus and letting the Holy Spirit work on us. But in thts conclusion I want to apply what we have learned to the real world. Away from the theoretical discussions we have to live and work with real people.
I have learned that people do not change all that much during their lifetimes. I have lived in the same community which has a large population of Seventh-day Adventists for over 60 years, and my observation is that people for the most part are pretty much like what they were when I first moved here. The arrogant are still arrogant and the humble are still humble. It is not my job to change the arrogant, nor do I think it serves any useful purpose to shun them. But we live with one another and the big question is how do we do that when we are all so different?
I mentioned earlier this week the leadership conflicts in the Seventh-day Adventist Church during the 1890 – 2010 period. because the story is essentially a conflict involving pride, humility, vision, the shadow of inspiration, and manipulation. It involved perceptions of doctrine, the management of finances, the direction of the church, the meaning of inspiration, and the loss of faith of some leaders. There was no quick resolution
There are several takeaways from this study.
Our prayer: Lord give us humble patience when interacting with others.
A litmus test is a chemical process used to reveal the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a solution by dipping specially formulated paper into a liquid. In a similar way, Paul introduces a spiritual “litmus test” for gauging genuine, Christlike humility. The church at Philippi was facing many trials because of their faith in Christ—some from outside, such as social marginalization and imprisonment, and others from within, where members were tempted to promote their own interests and take themselves too seriously. Paul directs them toward humility as the true measure of spiritual maturity, reminding them: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). He emphasizes that humility shifts the focus from self-promotion to service, fostering unity and deeper joy within the community.
Paul understood that there can be temporary gratification in winning arguments, yet he insisted that a deeper and more lasting joy comes from quiet trust in God and humble service. Even after sacrificing and suffering for the Philippians, he expressed no resentment, declaring, “I am glad and rejoice with you all” (Philippians 2:17–18). His repeated expression of joy reflects an intensified delight rooted in humility and obedience to God’s will. This attitude echoes the broader biblical teaching: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10). Paul’s example shows that true joy is not found in asserting oneself, but in serving others with a humble heart, allowing God to transform sacrifice into overflowing joy.
A pastor narrated how he bought an expensive big native attire just to prove that he has arrived and show off the next Sabbath. Walking down the aisle during procession, there was mixed reactions from people in church, while some laughed at him some where craving for his attention but the Man of God was not walking but gliding in glory in his mind making it irrelevant to look around or notice any gesture. It was when he got to the pulpit that he discovered that his expensive and glorious apparel was torn by the side.
That was what pride did to the disciples of Christ, while with there Master and Teacher they learnt nothing but only saw themselves glorified in heaven to the extent they had to fight for who will be at the right hand of Christ, imagine the likes Judas Ischarriot and Peter laying claims to such glorious position but could not recite or recap any of Christ’s teachings on contentment and steadfastness when tested.
Jesus described Cleopas and his companion – another set of His disciples, as fools and slow of heart because he was shocked to find out they didn’t know he will resurrect the third day, how will they when they were busy allocating positions to themselves and their family members in heaven.
Pride made them overlook the most important aspect of their calling, may we not fall victim to the destructive power of pride.
1 Corinthians 10:12 (KJV) Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
Thank God the disciples rediscovered themselves and faithfully carried out their calling and left us good examples to encourage us in our journey to heaven.
What amazes me about God is that although He possesses all power, all knowledge, and absolute authority, there is no trace of pride in Him. Human beings often become proud with far less—whether knowledge, position, or influence—but God, who has every reason to exalt Himself, reveals instead humility, patience, and love.
To me, this is one of the most powerful aspects of His character. His greatness is not expressed through arrogance, but through gentleness, mercy, and a willingness to stoop down to meet us where we are. We see this most clearly in Christ, who had all the fullness of divinity, yet humbled Himself to serve, to suffer, and to save.
That absence of pride in the One who knows all and rules all makes His character even more beautiful. It shows that true greatness is not self-exaltation, but the power to love without arrogance and to lead without oppression. God’s humility, in the presence of infinite power and wisdom, gives us the clearest model of what holy character truly looks like.
Psalm 149:4 – ”For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.” In the context of salvation, being born again is the only pathway toward salvation.
Pride has no part in our Walk of Faith. Can one fake the state of ‘being born again’? It is God, through the Power of the Holy Spirit, who changes the believer’s spiritual aim and purpose in life by our faith in Him, not in our own efforts.
Do we still want to appear ‘successfull’ in this world, still craving the world’s attention and praise? Even within the hierarchy of the church structure are many opportunities to continue climing the ladder of ‘success’. Does our ‘humbleness’ still focus on how we appear outwardly – like the praying Pharisee? Luke 18:9-14.
Genuine humbleness in all its aspects will expel pride! But, without acknowledging our utter lost estate – our helplessness without the presence of the Holy Spirit within teaching us God’s Truth – being fully aware that our born-again life is by/in God’s Grace – we remain tethered to self-justification, self-direction through ‘pride in self‘ – Prov.16:18.
‘Pride’ judges/determines the recipient of glory which only God has a legitimate claim to. Lucifer tried to wrestle it away from Him, causing us to inherit his delusional claim to ‘praise’. Our Creator gave us His Way to lead us out of this delusion into His marvelous Light – dying to self – to be born again IN Christ Jesus. The Comforter lives in us as we live our new life in Him by faith – Gal.2:20; Luke 9:23; 2 Cor.5:15; Phil.1:12; Rom.14:8.