The Problem with Pride
Liz has an amazing opportunity to meet a famous rock star—unless his pride gets in his way!
Before You ListenLet's Get Started
Theme: Love is not proud (1 Corinthians 13: 4).
1. Pride takes many forms, so it’s good to regularly take a “pride check.” Sometimes you think you know more about something or someone than you really do. Sometimes you think more highly of yourself than you should. Do you think that you’re better or more important than other people?
2. Think of a time when your pride led to embarrassment. That happened to King Nebuchadnezzar in the Old Testament. He was filled with pride when he looked over his kingdom. In Daniel 4:28-37, God showed the king who was really in charge by driving him from his palace. God made the king live in the wild like an animal until he admitted that God was the ruler of everything. Think about what pride can do as you listen to this episode.
After you listen
Memory Verse
“If you are proud, you will be destroyed. If you are proud, you will fall”
Quiz
A: He ignores her and thinks she isn’t good enough to be in his music video.
A: He doesn’t believe her and thinks she’s trying to make herself more important.
Reflect
In this episode, Liz’s pride gets out of hand after he wins the school talent show. When he is mean to Goldie, it ruins his chance to meet Carter J. We see a similar situation in the Old Testament book of Esther.
In Esther 3:1-5, Haman worked for King Xerxes. The king gave him a seat of honor and told all the royal officials that when Haman walked by, they had to kneel down to honor him.
Life was grand for Haman….until he noticed one day that a pesky Jewish man named Mordecai didn’t kneel. Mordecai was a nobody, while Haman was the second most important man in the kingdom. Haman wanted to destroy Mordecai, but even that wasn’t enough to satisfy his pride. Haman decided he would also destroy every Jewish person in the entire kingdom.
Haman’s plan would have worked, but God had a different plan. Not only did Haman have to swallow his pride and honor Mordecai in front of everyone, but when King Xerxes found out about Haman’s secret plan to wipe out Mordecai and his people, he had Haman put to death. You can read the whole story in Esther 6-7.
Haman had it all—wealth, honor, the King’s delight—but he lost it all, even his life, because of his pride.
Want to dig deeper and learn about the problem with pride? Check out Isaiah 2:11, Psalm 10:3-4, and Proverbs 6:16-19.
Challenge
Pride makes us build up ourselves instead of encouraging other people. In this episode, Liz lost a chance to do something special because he was mean to a new student.
Think about your words. How much of what you say puts other people down so that you feel better about yourself? Make a plan to encourage other people. Start by saying five nice things to other people every day. Can you add more?
