Pride Destroys, Humility Builds Up

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES Better Together

Pride Destroys, Humility Builds Up By Rick Warren — May 21, 2015 “Be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3b NCV) Pride destroys relationships. It shows up in a lot of different ways, like criticism, competition, stubbornness, and superficiality. The problem with pride is it’s self-deceiving. Everybody else can see it in us but us. When you have a problem with pride, you don’t see it in your life. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride leads to destruction; a proud attitude brings ruin” (NCV). I love this verse in the Message paraphrase: “First pride, then the crash — the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.” Pride destroys relationships, but humility is the antidote to pride. Humility builds relationships. The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:8, “Live in harmony, be sympathetic, love each other, have compassion, and be humble” (GWT). How are you and I going to grow in humility? It happens by letting Jesus Christ begin to control our thoughts and hearts and attitudes 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). How do you become a new person? How do you 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 you spend time with grumpy people, you get grumpier. If you spend time with happy people, you get happier. If you want to have more humility, spend time with Jesus Christ. He is humble. He wants a relationship with you. He wants you to spend time with him in prayer and reading his Word and talking to him. He is humble, and as you get to know him, you’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, second edition). 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 you spend time around him, it makes you more humble, and that builds your relationships. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over What are some of the common characteristics and habits of people you know who you would call humble? How do you need to change the way you think about other people so that you can become more like Jesus? What does it mean to give more honor to others than to yourself? Our Gift: 40 Days of Community Study Kit Pastor Rick wants to help you learn how to develop deeper, and healthier relationships and that’s why he developed the 6-session DVD and workbook study kit called 40 Days of Community. In this series, Pastor Rick explains how to do life in relationship to other people. You’ll grow if you do this study independently, but it is a wonderful way to bring a few people together and start forming meaningful friendships! LEARN MORE Complete Audio Series (Purchase) Includes all complete sermons from the Rick Warren Better Together teaching series. LEARN MORE Series Summary Message 1: Why We Need Each Other Message 2: Reaching Out Together Message 3: What Destroys Relationships and What Builds Them Message 4: How We Help Each Other Message 5: Serving Together Message 6: Living a Generous Life PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST

Pastor Rick Warren

Enjoy today's Devotional? Listen instantly to the full radio message at Daily Hope Radio. Did someone forward this devotional to you? Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional. This devotional is based on the current Daily Hope radio series at rickwarren.org. Rick Warren has helped people live with hope and on purpose for more than 40 years. He’s the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of several books, including "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life," read by more than 100 million people in 137 languages. He created the PEACE Plan (plant churches of reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation), which is used by churches in 196 countries. His radio teaching and daily devotional, Daily Hope, is offered across America. This devotional © 2015 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe at any time by changing your e-mail preferences. Update your preferences  |  Unsubscribe