If we are born anything, it’s not humble. We cry for attention and recognition from day one and – let’s be honest – it only gets worse as we get older.

By the time we can utter one word, it is usually “No!” or “Mine,” placing our pride front and center for all to see.

What I’m trying to say is, pride is a human condition and it is not conquerable without Christ’s death and resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in broken, humbled hearts.

Humility is Essential to the Christian Life

Humility is essential to the Christian life because without it, Scripture tells us that we can not know God or seek God at all. In fact, James tells us that “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

I don’t know about you, but being resisted by God is not my idea of a happy life.

How can we grow in humility? As I contemplated this for my own life, I did what any good Mom does – I made a list.

This is a simple list, just to get us started on an intentional journey into humility. Let’s commit to the journey because it’s only when we actively pursue humility and resist pride that we will grow in this virtue.

10 Simple Ways to Grow in Humility – Starting Today:

1. Admit that you are prideful. I am. You are. It is the sin that caused Lucifer to fall from Heaven and it is the foundation for every sin we ever commit. If we can’t admit that we are, by nature, prideful people, we will surely become slaves to pride itself.

2. Forgive someone you’ve held a grudge against without reservation, caveats, or stipulations. Unforgiveness is a form of pride that says “I trust myself as the judge of this person instead of trusting in Christ to be the perfect judge.” Entrust that person to Christ and let yourself out of the prison of bitterness that has held you through captive through offense.

3. Pray and seek Christ’s help and grace at the beginning of each day. Prayerlessness is a strong form of pride. When we don’t pray, we are essentially saying, “I’ve got this. I can handle life on my own without God.” When we start our day with prayer, we acknowledge our weakness, our capacity to sin if left to ourselves, and we invite God’s Spirit to empower us to make godly choices.

4. Ask God for His clear will and direction before making a decision. How often do we crash at a blinding speed through life only to look back at the train wreck we have left in our wake? Pausing in prayer as we decide how to make best use of our time honors Him and leads us on a straight path.

5. Regularly confess your sins to God and to another trustworthy friend. Pride often holds us back from admitting to God or others what we know is true – we have sin in our hearts. Scripture says “He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).

6. When talking to another person, focus on listening and asking questions rather than talking about yourself. As we learn to “be quick to listen and slow to speak,” we will grow in the virtue of humility.

7. Serve yourself last at meal time. Intentionally putting others before ourselves deals a strong blow to self-centeredness.

8. Write a note of encouragement to someone in your line of work who you may ordinarily view as “the competition.” When we actively choose to lift and empower others we take our eyes off of ourselves and trust God to exalt us in due time.

9. Give your spouse and/or children preference on how you spend your free time with them.

10. Do the job or task no one else wants to do. Jesus did this when he washed his disciples feet and calls us to do the same for others.

This is just a list of 10 things to get us started. I’d love to hear from you – what are some things you would add to this list? How can we spur one another on to grow in humility – starting today?