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Do You Regret Your Ongoing Selfishness? Learn to Lay Aside Your Pride

Writer's picture: Andy McIlvainAndy McIlvain

The Price of Pride
The Price of Pride


All of us are selfish.

The pride we are born with tells us we are the exception.

From the "it's mine" of a toddler to the prideful adult belief that all the rules do not apply to me we see in most adults today, selfishness is a plague.


You are not an exception to the rules of our culture nor to the rules God has placed before us. We have all made sinful assumptions and did things that either lead to sin and harm to others or immediately cause harm both physical and mental harm to those around us.


Behind every willful sin we think or commit, behind every conscious act of disobedience to God, we make a presumption that what God, or his authority in society ( government, school, parent or employer), says is best for the people around us does not apply to us.

We are seeing this trend of prideful thinking in our churches and in society at large today more than ever.

We become indignant at others’ selfishness and yet we greedily indulge in our own?


We must remind ourselves that "love does not" insist on having its own way.

1 Corinthians 13:5

5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful


You see our default is to "have our own way"!

From our time on the playground as children, as over-zealous teens; we insist even in the church, the workplace and it continues. We are most of our lives disturbingly and persistently selfish.

Of all the things we do in our life it has been demonstrated that people regret being selfish in life above many other regrets.


Laying Aside Pride Requires Knowing Jesus

There is nothing you or I can do to curb our selfish behavior and thinking other than believing in and developing a relationship with Christ. Human effort, our cleverness or even hard work will not stop your pride.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:3-8


Christ did not insist on his own way when he gave himself to be crucified for us.

Although we can love one another and perform acts of altruism that will not usurp our pride. The Christian way of life requires humility. We can through prayer, repentance of our sins and the changing of our thinking/behavior begin trusting God the Father like Jesus trusted Him.

Our personal preferences are not always wrong or prideful (unless a sin).

When we insist on our own selfish desires this ultimately burdens us with conflict and discouragement, while at the same time causing irritation, anger, resentment, and bitterness in those around us.


The Holy Habit of Humility

Proud sinners require humiliation.

We must be humbled and we will be at some point in our lives, but will we accept God's discipline?

Humbling ourselves is often akin to a dose of strong medicine. We dislike it!


16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 1 John 2:16


It is through humility we actually find the joys of life. Acknowledging to ourselves and God that we are selfish sinners begins the process into humility.

So start today and make the hard choice. Pray for forgiveness, be humble, serve others. The Holy Habit of Humility is a daily part of our story and our journey with our Lord!



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