False Humility is Pride

Pride is a tricky sin. Sometimes we are most proud when we think we are most humble. False humility is really pride.

Pro 16:2  All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

It is hard to find a guilty man when we make ourselves the judges of right and wrong, and make ourselves the author of our own laws. We try and do the work of Christ in our own life and try to justify ourselves. Christ is the Just and the justifier (Romans 3:25-28). 

However, there is a false humility that decries everything in our souls that denies the truth of God’s work in our souls.

Richard Sibbes in his wonderful book The Bruised Reed was speaking to those ‘smoking flax’ Christians, who are in continual despair over their salvation because they see no fruit or deny or explain away the fruit that is evident in their life.

 We must neither trust to false evidence, nor deny true; for so we should dishonor the work of God’s Spirit in us, and lose the help of that evidence which would cherish our love to Christ, and arm us against Satan’s discouragements. Some are as faulty in this way as if they had been hired by Satan, the ‘accuser of the brethren’ (Rev. 12:10), to plead for him in accusing themselves.

Don’t bear false witness against yourself and don’t deny the work of the Spirit in your life if you are in Christ. There will be evidences of the grace of God and it is not humility to deny His work in sanctification. It is prideful to take credit. It is prideful to look down at others. It is prideful to want to be noticed and praised for the evidence of God’s grace.  However, it is not prideful to see God’s grace in your soul and to use what God has given you for His glory and thank Him for His goodness.

Bearded Gospel Man Joe Thorn in his excellent book Note to Self touches on this in his section on pride.

Poor self-esteem in not an indication of humility or meekness. In fact, It may be a disregarding of the gifts God has given you and a mocking of the work he is doing in your life. How does this connect to pride? Haven’t you used this excuse of no ability and no talent to clear yourself of responsibility? Isn't it possible that you have used poor self-esteem as an excuse for doing nothing or as a means of saving face? Who could fault you when you don’t claim to be good at anything. Make no mistake about it – you are proud.

We must remember what we are – creatures.

We must remember who we are – children of God.

We must remember where we are – in Christ Jesus.

Pride is a sneaky sin. There is no easy way to spot pride except to always be hunting it down in our lives and be killing it-to spot him when he tries to sneak in the house. Sometimes Pride will knock on the door in a T-shirt that says LIBERTY in some ultra hip font.  Sometimes Pride comes dressed in his Sunday’s Finest complete with a Full Windsor. Sometimes Pride saunters about like an extra from Downton Abbey. Sometimes Pride knocks on the door in beggars’ clothes.  We need to be careful when we open the door and be quick to show Pride to the door when he sneaks through the vestibule. We need to keep him "screwed to the sticking place".

The answer is to think much of Christ and the cross. To remember what He did for us, what He does for us, what He is doing for us, and what He as promised us.