The Bible has a lot to say about ego, though the word itself is not used. Ego refers to an inflated sense of self-importance and excessive pride. This manifests itself in selfishness, arrogance, and seeking personal glory rather than giving glory to God.
Throughout Scripture, God opposes pride and teaches humility. “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6 ESV). “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11 ESV). Pride leads to destruction, while humility brings wisdom and honor (Proverbs 11:2, 16:18, 29:23).
The Old Testament frequently condemns pride using words like “haughty” and “lofty.” Isaiah 2:12 says, “For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low.” God brought down the pride of Babylon, Tyre, and other nations that grew arrogant and self-reliant rather than relying on Him (Isaiah 13:11, 23:9).
In the New Testament, Jesus strongly warns against pride and hypocrisy. He denounces the Pharisees for broadening their phylacteries and lengthening their fringes to draw attention to themselves and boost their egos (Matthew 23:5). Jesus instructs His followers not to take places of honor at feasts, but to humble themselves and let others honor them (Luke 14:7-11).
The apostle Paul writes at length against pride and boasting. He reminds the Corinthians that what they have comes from God, so they have no grounds for boasting (1 Corinthians 4:7). The Galatians are “only thinking of themselves” rather than humbly serving others (Galatians 5:26). Paul includes pride in lists of sins like sexual immorality, greed, and hatred (Romans 1:30, 2 Corinthians 12:20).
Ultimately pride is rejecting God’s rightful glory and believing we can achieve anything apart from Him. Nebuchadnezzar’s ego grew so big that he failed to acknowledge God, so God humbled him until Nebuchadnezzar recognized God’s sovereignty (Daniel 4:28-37). Pride blinded the Pharisees to their need for a Savior. Pride leads us to find identity and worth in our own accomplishments rather than in Christ.
The antidote to pride is humility displayed by Jesus. “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who…made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:5-7). We humble ourselves by confessing our sins to God (1 John 1:9), serving others ahead of ourselves (Philippians 2:3-4), and boasting only in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31).
When our egos get inflated, we start thinking we don’t need God or others. The Bible reminds us that every good thing is from God (James 1:17). We need Him moment by moment. Apart from Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5). God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. May we walk in humility, remember our desperate need for God, and give Him all the glory.
Here are some key Scripture passages about ego and pride:
Proverbs 16:18-19 – Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.
1 Corinthians 10:12 – Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
1 Peter 5:5-6 – Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
Philippians 2:3-4 – Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in 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.
James 4:6-7 – But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Proverbs 29:23 – One’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.
Proverbs 16:5 – Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.
Isaiah 2:12 – For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;
Daniel 4:37 – Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
Luke 18:9-14 – (Parable of the Pharisee and tax collector praying in the temple)
Romans 12:3 – For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Galatians 6:3 – For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
James 3:13-18 – Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
1 John 2:16 – For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
Obadiah 1:3-4 – The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?” Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord.
Mark 7:20-23 – And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
2 Timothy 3:2 – For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy.
1 Corinthians 1:29 – So that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
Proverbs 8:13 – The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
2 Chronicles 26:16 – But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.
1 Corinthians 13:4 – Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant.
Psalm 10:4 – In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
Zechariah 10:11-12 – He shall pass through the sea of troubles and strike down the waves of the sea, and all the depths of the Nile shall be dried up. The pride of Assyria shall be laid low, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart. I will make them strong in the Lord, and they shall walk in his name,” declares the Lord.
Romans 11:20-21 – That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 – Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”
Psalm 73:6 – Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.
Proverbs 6:16-17 – There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood.
Psalm 59:12 – For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride. For the cursing and lies that they utter.
Isaiah 14:12-15 – How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.
Proverbs 21:4 – Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin.
Romans 12:16 – Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
Proverbs 27:1-2 – Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.
1 Corinthians 1:26-29 – For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
Proverbs 30:12 – There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth.
1 John 2:15-17 – Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Micah 6:8 – He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Matthew 23:12 – Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
Luke 1:51-52 – He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate.
These key passages teach that pride is sinful and hated by God. It elevates self over God and others. Pride leads to destruction, while humility brings wisdom and honor. We are called to humble ourselves, consider others above ourselves, and boast only in the Lord. As James 4:6 summarizes: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
