The Stumbling Block of Pride

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” —2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)

There’s a strange kind of arrogance and pride that creeps into the Christian walk if we’re not careful.

The longer we’re saved, the easier it becomes to confuse spiritual longevity with spiritual maturity.

We begin to think we’ve got everything theologically nailed down.

We cling tightly to every doctrine we’ve been handed—whether we studied it out or not.

And slowly, often unknowingly, we lose the humility that God uses to deepen and purify our faith.

But let me remind you: it’s okay to say,

“I don’t know.”

It’s even okay to say,

“I used to believe this, but I studied Scripture for myself, and I was wrong.”

(The Stumbling Block of Pride)

That’s what spiritual maturity in the Word looks like.

---

Take Adoniram Judson for example.

A man of deep conviction.

One of the first American missionaries.

A trailblazer, a pioneer, a hero of the faith.

But even he—on the deck of a ship bound for a Burmese mission field—humbled himself and re-evaluated one of his most long-held theological positions.

Judson set sail as a Congregationalist, a man who had always accepted the doctrine of infant baptism.

It’s what he’d been taught.

It’s what he believed.

But on that voyage across the ocean, his heart was stirred.

He felt an urgency to make sure that what he believed wasn’t simply inherited—but was scripturally sound.

So he opened his Bible.

He studied with an open heart.

And he came to a life-altering conclusion: Scripture did not support infant baptism.

He changed.

He and his wife Ann were baptized by immersion.

And just like that—he renounced the theological tradition he had once stood firm on and became a Baptist.

Not because someone argued him into it, but because the Word of God illuminated truth when he was humble enough to receive it.

There’s a lesson there for all of us.

---

Sometimes, we are spiritually stagnant not because we lack passion, but because we lack the humility to admit that maybe, just maybe, we’ve built some beliefs more on tradition than on truth.

The Bible commands us to study:

“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

—2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV)

That means digging in.

Not just parroting what we’ve heard.

Not just repeating our favorite preacher’s catchphrases.

It means wrestling with the text.

Reading.

Praying.

Comparing Scripture with Scripture.

And letting the Holy Ghost, not our denomination, shape our doctrine.

We see this humility modeled again in Acts 18.

Apollos, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, was preaching the baptism of John.

But he lacked the full picture.

Then came along Aquila and Priscilla.

They didn’t humiliate him.

They didn’t blast him in the synagogue.

They “took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.” (Acts 18:26 KJV)

And Apollos listened.

That’s the kind of heart we need today.

One that is bold in truth, but humble in learning.

Willing to grow.

Willing to change.

Willing to admit we don’t know everything.

I’m thankful for the Aquilas and Priscillas in my life—people who lovingly challenged me, who pointed me back to the Bible when I was leaning too hard on assumptions or emotional convictions.

We need more of those.

And we need to be those, too.

But in doing so, let’s not confuse doctrine with personal conviction.

The two are not the same.

Doctrinal truth is unchanging, rooted in Scripture, and universal for all believers.

Personal convictions are applications of Scripture that may vary by individual or circumstance.

The Lord may lead you to convictions for your home or season that He hasn’t required of someone else.

That’s okay.

But don’t elevate them to the status of immutable truth.

And don’t look down on someone walking in faithful obedience just because their convictions aren’t a carbon copy of your own.

Arrogance is not a fruit of the Spirit.

“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” 2 Corinthians 10:12 KJV

(The Stumbling Block of Pride)

At the end of the day, our goal is not to win arguments.

It’s to lift up Christ.

So let’s open our Bibles.

Let’s humble our hearts.

Let’s be bold enough to say,

“I don’t know—but I want to learn.”

Let’s stop clinging to theological hand-me-downs and start anchoring ourselves to the Word of God.

And let’s remember—it’s not about being right.

It’s about being biblical.

And that begins with humility.

Growing in Grace,

Biblical Womanhood / Substack

Image : Unsplash from Wix