Pride Disguised As Humility

John 13:6-8

It has been said, "Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it is thinking of yourself less". In other words, it is not about putting yourself down but rather simply not thinking of yourself very often. Many times we put ourselves down while still making life and circumstances all about us. As we will see, pride that pretends to be humility still gets us into trouble.

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Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”

John 13:6-8

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In our text, Peter thought he was acting in humility. He was not going to let his Savior do something as lowly and degrading as wash his feet. The other disciples might not care, but he loved Jesus too much to allow this. When Peter asked the question, "Lord, are You washing my feet?", it was really more like, "Lord, do you really think you are going to wash my feet?"

There was a major problem with Peter's thinking. By telling Jesus what He could and could not do, Peter condescend Jesus down to his (Peter's) level. Jesus is the creator of the universe and Lord of all creation. Peter had no right to tell or "allow" Him to do anything. It was prideful for Peter to think he could. Even though he thought Jesus was too good for such a menial task, he still thought he could exercise authority over Jesus.

By doing this, Peter was actually defying the will of God. It is also this pride that began the downward slide that led to Peter denying Jesus three times. Solomon wrote, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). Peter did not repent of his pride and it led to his fall. Once he realized that he had denied Jesus, just as Jesus said he would, it crushed Peter. If we do not deal with pride in our own lives, it will do the same to us.

We often judge Peter as though we would never do the things that he did. Truth is, we have more in common with Peter than most of us would want to admit. Peter said what many Christians think, but they have learned to speak "Christianese" and would not let such words come out of their mouths. However, think about how we pray today. "Lord do this for me and do that for my friend". We command God as though he serves us. We condescend God to the level of a servant who is there to do our bidding. What about when we question God when things don't go our way? The thoughts of our mind say, "What kind of God would allow...?" We are no different than Peter.

This same Peter would later write, "Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" (I Peter 5:5-7). It is better if we humble ourselves under the hand of God, rather than to have God humble us. When we realize there is pride in our lives, we should confess it to God and repent. We should ask God to help us turn from that pride. We should ask God to help make us more like Jesus.

Father, we all have pride in our lives. Pride is at the core of all sin. We rebel against You because we feel entitled to do what we want. Help us to remember that You are the Creator of the Universe and Lord of Your creation. If we get a right view of who You are, and who Jesus is, we will be humbled in Your presence.