Holy Hatred: Haughty Eyes - Sola 5

How do we combat pride? C. J. Mahaney offers a long list of practical suggestions in his book Humility: True Greatness. It’s a worthwhile read. For our purposes, however, I want to briefly make four practical suggestions.

First, know God. Those guilty of haughty eyes think too much of themselves. The best ways to produce humility is to have a greater vision of God. Lewis Smedes says that “pride in the religious sense is the arrogant refusal to let God be God. It is to grab God’s status for oneself.” But if we work on knowing God—by immersing ourselves in Scripture, by taking advantage of opportunities to hear good biblical teaching, by forming relationships with those who know God—we will be less tempted to grab God’s status for ourselves.

Second, invite and pursue correction. Haughty eyes do not do this. Pride resists correction—because correction hurts our pride. Those with haughty eyes get irritated and angry when they are rebuked and corrected. If you will overcome pride, invite others to speak into your life and correct you when they notice haughty eyes.

Third, actively serve others. The natural human tendency is to seek to be served rather than to serve, but the New Testament instructs us to live counterintuitively. “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but un humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3–4). Show interest in the lives of others. Ask how they are doing. Ask about their struggles. Ask how you can pray for them. Look for ways in which you can practically serve them rather than only expecting them to serve you. If you are not doing something for others, don’t feel slighted when they don’t do it for you.

Fourth, and ultimately, daily reflect on the gospel of Jesus Christ. That, in fact, is the very rationale that Paul uses for the verses cited immediately above. Why should we count others more significant than ourselves and look to the interests of others? Because that is what Jesus Christ did (Philippians 2:5–8). Jesus had every right to equality with God, but he did not insist on his rights. Instead, he became a servant to His Father, willing to submit himself to further the interests of others. The cross of Christ is the ultimate display of humility, and the gospel of Christ is the ultimate cure for haughty eyes.

Do you hate haughty eyes? Do you despise pride and arrogance in others? Do you despise it equally in yourself? Will you do what is necessary to kill pride and cultivate humility? That is what Christ did, and it is what God calls all Christians to emulate.