Uncomfortable Truth Tuesday: The Sin Christians Love to See in Others, but Rarely See in Themselves

Pride is one of the easiest sins to recognize in someone else and one of the hardest to recognize in ourselves. We notice when someone talks down to others, boasts about their accomplishments, or acts as though they are better than everyone else, but what happens when the person we need to examine is ourselves?

I’ll go first. Yes, yours truly is guilty of pride. I don’t write this pretending to be holier than anyone else. I am a wicked sinner saved by grace, and there have been plenty of times when pride has crept into my own heart.

My husband can testify to how prideful I used to be. I always had to be right. I struggled to admit when I was wrong or even consider someone else’s point of view or feelings because I was so convinced of my own. My pride kept me from listening.

As a woman, I’ve heard plenty of messages targeting women, convincing us that we had to be strong, independent, and unapologetic. Somewhere along the way, I confused standing up for myself with refusing to acknowledge when I was wrong.

I could easily defend my own perspective without giving someone else’s a fair hearing. Admitting that I was wrong felt like a weakness to me. Looking back, I can see how much pride had consumed me.

Pride isn’t limited to one sex. It can take root in any of us at any given time. I know it sure did in me.

James 1:19 says, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”

Swift to hear.

That was where I struggled. I was often quicker to defend myself than to listen. I am quick to admit that now that I am not blinded by my own pride.

If I had taken those words to heart, there were times I would have recognized that my husband’s perspective was correct, but I couldn’t see it while I was so determined to prove my own point and that my way was right.

It wasn’t until I let go of that pride and surrendered it to Jesus that I could admit that I was wrong and change my viewpoint.

There are many areas of my life where I’ve let my pride get the best of me, but those are stories for another discussion.

What I’ve come to recognize is that my pride didn’t always look like arrogance. Sometimes, it looked like stubbornness. Sometimes, it looked like making excuses. Sometimes, it was simply an unwillingness to say, “You’re right. I was wrong.”

Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

I had heard that verse before, but it’s one thing to recognize a warning and another to acknowledge that it applies to me.

James 4:6 has put me in check so many times: “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”

I don’t want to be so determined to defend myself that I resist the correction that I need.

How many of us have seen pride and arrogance in the pulpit? That’s a discussion for another Tuesday. Today, I’m looking at the pride that I had to confront in myself.

Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:3–5 about noticing the speck in someone else’s eye while overlooking the beam in my own give me plenty to reflect on.

It’s easy for me to read Scripture and think of someone else who needs to hear it. It’s more uncomfortable to sit quietly and consider what it reveals about my own heart.

I can recognize someone else’s wrongdoing while overlooking my own attitude. I can be right about someone’s sin and still have a sinful attitude in how I respond.

That realization hasn’t changed my conviction that sin is sin, but it has made me think more carefully about how I speak and whether I’m approaching someone with humility or a sense of superiority.

Knowing Scripture doesn’t make me or anyone else immune to pride. Neither does writing about faith.

Even recognizing how much I’ve changed can become something to boast about if I forget who is helping me change, because I can guarantee that it's not me.

Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

That includes me. I need the mercy I write about. I need forgiveness. I need repentance, and most importantly, I need Jesus just like everyone else. He died for my sins and rose again on the third day. My hope rests in Him, and I have no reason to act as though I saved myself or accomplished this growth on my own.

I’ve come a long way, but God is still working on me and in me, and I'm sure He's doing the same for You, as long as you allow Him to.

I’m much quicker now to apologize and admit when I’m wrong. I’m learning to consider other people's perspectives instead of immediately defending my own.

Just the other night, I told my husband about a viral video I had seen on X. I already had my mind made up about it, but when he shared his perspective, I stopped and listened to what he had to say. He made some really valid points, and I found myself agreeing with him. Before, his words would have gone in one ear and out the other because I would have been too busy defending what I already thought.

It might sound like a small moment, but I recognize the difference. I was willing to reconsider, and I thank God for that change in me. Like all of you, I still have growing to do, and I don’t want to become so pleased with my progress that I stop being willing to receive correction.

This Tuesday, the uncomfortable truth is one I’ve had to face personally: sometimes the pride I was so quick to recognize in others was present in me, too.

I’m thankful God has helped me see it, and I’m thankful He is still working in my heart.

If you have been told that you are too proud or arrogant, I urge you, brothers and sisters, to seek God with a humble heart. Repent and ask Him to change your heart, because pride can wreck havoc and destroy your life, just as the Bible warns.

Remember, we serve a mighty God who does the impossible every day. No heart is beyond His reach, and no one is beyond His power to transform.

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” (James 4:10)

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