{"id":81653,"date":"2024-10-14T10:37:13","date_gmt":"2024-10-14T16:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/?p=81653"},"modified":"2024-10-14T10:37:13","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T16:37:13","slug":"4-subtle-dangers-of-pride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/4-subtle-dangers-of-pride\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Subtle Dangers of Pride"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Dan Reiland<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One of the most dangerous things about pride is that it\u2019s easy to see in others but difficult to see in ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>Any leader can fall prey to pride, and when we think we can\u2019t, the enemy has us right where he wants us.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s something that can creep up on us slowly and subtly, and if unchecked over time, can cause us to cultivate thoughts we wouldn\u2019t want others to know or believe to be true.<\/p>\n<p>If pride in a leader grows, it becomes a poison to the soul that makes it increasingly impossible to serve from an authentic heart of love and desire to serve others. Pride steals our freedom to love and serve others, holds us captive to a certain image and in bondage to a need for control.<\/p>\n<p>Pride is preoccupied with things like:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Where am I on the org chart?<\/li>\n<li>Do I have the authority I want?<\/li>\n<li>How fast am I rising?<\/li>\n<li>Will what I\u2019m doing get me where I want to be?<\/li>\n<li>Do people think\u00a0<em>highly<\/em>\u00a0of me?<\/li>\n<li>Am I the best?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Pride can make a smart leader do really dumb things. It has been described this way, \u201cPride is like a drug that can take over your life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pride can cause us to self-sabotage \u2014 to not ask for help when we need it or turn it down when offered. Pride can cause us to walk away from a beautiful friendship when a simple \u201cI\u2019m sorry\u201d is all that was needed.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The<strong>\u00a0antidote<\/strong>\u00a0to the poison of pride is authentic humility.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>attitude<\/strong>\u00a0to battle the poison of pride is to think of yourself as God does, nothing more and nothing less.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>action<\/strong>\u00a0to overcome the poison of pride is to speak words of apology, admit when wrong, give credit to others, lift others up, submit to God and invite others to speak truth into our lives.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Humility isn\u2019t thinking poorly of yourself, its thinking honestly about yourself. It\u2019s the combination of knowing the truth about yourself and simultaneously understanding God\u2019s great love for you. When you see yourself and value yourself in the same way God does, you are headed in the right direction.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4 Subtle Dangers of Pride<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>1) Pride can cause us to be preoccupied with where we stand rather than how we serve<\/strong><br \/>\nPride can sneak up on anyone at any time. It is always waiting and prowling in the shadows. Even the most humble of leaders can slide, momentarily, into the snare of pride.<\/p>\n<p>For example, pride allows us focus on our place on the org chart rather than how we benefit the team. That\u2019s easy to do, and it starts from a good place, from our calling, the God-given drive and desire to do well. Its when we step across the line to serving ourselves rather than others that the problem emerges.<\/p>\n<p>Insecurity can also cause us to focus on where we are on the org chart, but it\u2019s a passive lament, where pride is an aggressive pursuit.<\/p>\n<p>The darkness of pride causes us to be more concerned with our seat at the table rather than what we bring to the table.<\/p>\n<p>The desire to reach our God-given potential is a good thing, if we remain on His agenda instead of our own.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2) The subtle sin of pride is comparison<\/strong><br \/>\nWe can all be blindsided by pride.<\/p>\n<p>Pride is natural to the human condition, it\u2019s a lifelong battle we must face. The good news is that we can consistently win the battle through awareness, intentionality and honest feedback from a few close advisors we trust.<\/p>\n<p>The great problem with pride isn\u2019t feeling good about yourself or a job well done, it\u2019s comparing yourself to others with a desire to elevate yourself as better, above and more important.<\/p>\n<p><em>The subtle even sinister factor with pride is that the real goal of comparison is more about lowering the value of others as much as elevating the value of self.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>We can weaken the hold of pride when we shift our perspective from unhealthy comparison to making a genuine contribution to the benefit of others. When we focus on lifting others up it is difficult for pride to take root.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3) Pride always desires more<\/strong><br \/>\nThe ugly trap in pride is its insidious desire for more. It\u2019s simply never satisfied.<\/p>\n<p>The never-ending snare of \u201cmore\u201d is that the leader often doesn\u2019t know what the more is, it\u2019s just more, and that makes for a dangerous leader. The result is an ungrateful and discontent spirit.<\/p>\n<p>To say it differently, a prideful leader who doesn\u2019t know what they want is a dangerous leader because they are consumed with taking (to meet their unsatiable need) rather than giving.<\/p>\n<p>Over time, this leader can change from leading with a Spirit-filled boldness \u2013 to a leader in search of more power for the sake of control. This always leads to a fall.<\/p>\n<p><em>Pride\u00a0goes before destruction, a haughty spirit\u00a0before a fall.\u00a0Proverbs 16:18<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor.\u00a0Proverbs 29:23<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.\u00a0Proverbs 11:2<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0<em>James 4:6<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>4) A sure sign of pride is when a leader is no longer willing to follow.<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen I was a young adult in college, working part-time jobs, I often thought I knew more than my boss, and therefore didn\u2019t want to do what I was asked (or told) to do. That was clearly pride and arrogance.<\/p>\n<p>At the young age of twenty-one that may be understandable, but it doesn\u2019t make it right and how should we think about this when a leader is in his or her 30\u2019s, 40\u2019s or 50\u2019s?<\/p>\n<p><em>When a leader is no longer willing to follow the leaders above him or her, they become a liability rather than an asset to the team.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>A lack of ability or willingness to follow reveals at some level a spirit of rebellion, arrogance, or independence.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of our age, submission is a Godly trait. Jesus demonstrated the ultimate model of submission to the Father.<br \/>\n___<br \/>\nResisting pride and embracing submission for the sake of God\u2019s purposes not easy, in fact, it\u2019s a life-long process. The healthy journey begins with awareness, embracing an attitude of humility, and resisting prideful behavior.<br \/>\nCopyright \u00a9 2024 Dan Reiland<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Dan Reiland One of the most dangerous things about pride is that it\u2019s easy to see in others but difficult to see in ourselves. Any leader can fall prey to pride, and when we think we can\u2019t, the enemy has us right where he wants us. It\u2019s something that can creep up on us <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/4-subtle-dangers-of-pride\/\"> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":81650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3380,4661,276,266],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-leadership-articles","category-resources-ndi","category-sunday-school-and-discipleship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mesonaz.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}