Forgotten Vices, Forgotten Virtues: Pride vs. Humility
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
As Christians, most of us recognize pride as the root of all sins. After all, it was behind both the fall of Satan and the fall of Adam. You’ve probably heard the sermons. And it is also intuitive to most of us to see that humility is the very opposite of pride. But what we might fail to recognize is just how deep the roots of pride reach down into our hearts, and how important it is for us to pursue humility in order to uproot this sickness within us. As we continue in our series on the Vices and Virtues, let’s take a deeper dive into how this all works.
Pride: The Queen of All Vices
In the 6th century, Gregory the Great described pride as the “queen of sins” and all of the other deadly sins as the offspring of pride [1]. This is because pride is a disordered posture of the heart at the most fundamental level: loving oneself above God. Because God made us in His image, everything that makes us human comes down from God above.
In other words, grace flows downwards. If we try to flip that and put ourselves above God, we cut ourselves off from the source of life, love, and everything that makes us human. Not only does this separate us from God, but it also separates us from the rest of creation, from other humans, and even from our own humanity.
Restoring Humanity Through Humility
In His great love for mankind and the world He created, Christ humbled Himself and came down into His creation in order to restore these separations. Through His incarnation, life, death, and resurrection, Jesus brought divinity into every facet of human experience—and everything the divine touches is healed. We have the opportunity for this healing to extend to us if we will only turn to Him in humility, ask for His mercy and grace, and follow His example of humble service to God and to others.
Humility: The Mother of All Virtues
Just as pride is at the root of all other sins, so humility is the key to unlocking the other virtues. Again, we need to orient ourselves properly in order for God’s grace to properly flow into us. As James says, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). If we try to pursue virtue without humility, it will all be for nothing. We will be like the religious leader in the Lord’s parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18), who prayed, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.” If we want to grow in virtue, we must instead have the posture of the tax collector who “would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’”
7 Practical Ways to Grow in Humility
1. Pray for it
It’s often the case that we have not because we ask not (James 4:2). Ask God to give you the mind of Christ (Philippians 2) so that you can follow His example of humble service to God and to others.
2. Obedience
Pride and disobedience often go hand in hand, as they did for Satan’s refusal to serve God and Adam’s disobedience in eating the forbidden fruit. And similarly, obedience is considered by Benedict of Nursia to be the “first degree of humility” [2]. This first and foremost means obedience to God and His commandments, but it also means obedience to those who justly have authority over us, whether they be parents, teachers, pastors/spiritual leaders, or civil authorities.
3. Confess your sins
Regularly confessing our sins to God and to others forces us to take off the mask that we so often wear, take an honest look at ourselves, and confront our own brokenness. It is a humbling experience but also a restorative one, as it opens us up to receive the reassurance and acceptance that we truly long for.
4. Give God the first fruits
One of the best ways to maintain a proper humble alignment before God is to give Him your best when it comes to your time, your energy, and your finances. Is attending church and pursuing God in prayer only something you do when you have leftover time and energy, or is it the first thing blocked off on your calendar? Do you set aside money first for giving to the church and to the poor, or are you only giving them the scraps? We grow in humility when we recognize that everything we have comes from God and give Him the first fruits of our labor.
5. Don’t believe your own press
We should all be able to receive compliments and congratulations on a job well done from time to time. But receiving praise from others can be dangerous, especially when it’s so tempting to show only our good side to others. As John Climacus says, “When our praisers, or rather our seducers, begin to praise us, let us briefly call to mind the multitude of our sins, and we shall find ourselves unworthy of what is said or done in our honor.” [3]
6. Be teachable
Recognize that every person that you meet has something to teach you, even those (or especially those) who disagree with you. Conservatives, take a lesson from liberals who recognize the importance of learning from the “others” in our society. Liberals, take a lesson from conservatives who recognize the importance of learning from tradition, from those who came before us. There is always some truth to glean from others’ traditions, denominations, and schools of thought because we are all made in God’s image and can’t help but reflect aspects of His goodness.
7. Be slow to judge
Only God has the complete picture and therefore He is the only one qualified to judge us. When you find yourself being critical of another’s attitude or actions, pause and reflect on how you have no real idea of what they’ve had to struggle against in their life (or even earlier that day). Be merciful and you shall receive mercy (Matthew 5:7).
Don’t Despair
The Christian walk is one of balance. Living a life of repentance means walking the narrow path, where we grow in awareness of our sinfulness without falling into despair. The Lord allows us to see our sin not in order to crush us, but rather so we might see our sickness and allow Him to heal us. And nobody desires our healing more than God Himself.
I’ll leave you with a quote by Gennadius of Constantinople [4]:
“Do not say: ‘I have sinned much, and therefore I am not bold enough to fall down before God.’ Do not despair. Simply do not increase your sins in despair and, with the help of the All-merciful One, you will not be put to shame. For He said, ‘He who comes to Me I will not cast out.’ (John. 6:37) And so, be bold and believe that He is pure and cleanses those who draw near to Him. If you want to accomplish true repentance, show it with your deeds. If you have fallen into pride, show humility.”
[1] Moralia in Job, Book XXXI
[2] The Rule of Benedict, Ch. 5
[3] The Ladder of Divine Ascent, Step 22.42
[4] The Golden Chain, 87-89
