Devotional for March 10, 2026
Topic: The Contention You Did Not Know Was Pride
Proverbs 13:10 (KJV)
Only by pride cometh contention, but with the well-advised is wisdom.If we are being completely honest, this week you have been mad at someone for almost no reason. Maybe it was your spouse who left their cup on the counter again. Maybe it was your coworker who replied 'all' to the email. Maybe it was your friend who took three days to text back. Maybe it was your kid who asked you for a snack for the seventh time in ten minutes.
You have carried that little tiny hot coal of irritation around for three days. If someone asked you why, you would say, 'Well, they were wrong.' And you would be right. And that is exactly the trap.
This is the time of year when all the grace runs out. All the nice New Year's resolutions to be more patient and more kind have faded. All the little things you laughed off in January are now the things that make you slam the car door. Most of us will go through this entire day carrying at least one quiet little grudge, and we will never once call it pride.
Explanation of the Scripture
Almost no one understands this verse correctly.We read Proverbs 13:10, and we immediately think of that one arrogant person we know. We think of the guy who yells at waiters. We think of the relative who has to win every argument at Thanksgiving. We nod our heads and say, 'Yes, that is very true; pride is bad.' ' We never for one second think it is talking about us.
Solomon does not say contention comes from evil people. He does not say it comes from wrong people. He says only by pride cometh contention. Only. That is the hardest, most uncompromising word in the entire book of Proverbs. There are no exceptions. Every single fight, every single argument, every single silent treatment, every single grudge that you carry around, has pride at the root of it. Every single one.
And this is the part that will break you if you let it. That pride almost never looks like arrogance. It almost never looks like bragging. It looks like being right.
It is the quiet, unspoken belief that your convenience matters more than someone else's forgetfulness. That your feelings are more valid than their bad day. That if they had just done the thing the way you would have done it, everything would be fine. And the worst, most dangerous part of all is that you are almost always correct about the facts. They did leave the cup. They did reply to all. They were late. You are right. And that is the most dangerous place a Christian can ever be. Because when you are right, you do not notice the pride. You think you are just being reasonable.
The second half of the verse is just as important and just as ignored. With the well-advised, there is wisdom. 'Well advised' does not mean someone who is always right. It means someone who would rather be at peace than be right.
Life Application
Today there will be a dozen opportunities for you to choose pride or choose peace. Almost none of them will be big.You will not have to decide whether to forgive someone who betrayed you. You will have to decide whether to sigh when your partner asks you where the remote is. You will not have to win a great moral battle. You will have to decide whether to send that snappy reply to the group chat. You will not have to defend the faith before kings. You will have to decide whether to bring up that thing they did two weeks ago one more time.
You will win every single one of those arguments. You will be proven right. You will get all the other people on your side. You will have the last word. And you will go to bed tired. And you will be lonely. And you will wonder why there is so much friction in your life and so little rest.
Pride does not make you feel big. It makes you feel small and tight and angry all the time. It will steal every good thing in your life, and you will not even notice it is gone because you will be too busy being right.
You do not have to correct every mistake. You do not have to have the last word. You do not have to make sure everyone knows how wrong they were. That is not weakness. That is wisdom. That is the thing that will make your home quiet, your friendships light, and your heart soft.
Nobody on their deathbed ever said, 'I wish I had won more arguments.' Nobody ever looked back on their life and thought the best thing I ever did was make sure everyone knew I was right.
Stop waiting for them to apologise first. Stop waiting for them to admit they were wrong. You can let it go today. You can be the one to end the fight. Even if you are 100% correct. Even if they never say sorry. That is not losing. That is freedom.
Reflection Questions
Take three minutes today and sit with these. Be honest with yourself. No one is listening.- What is the tiny little grudge you are carrying right now that you are completely convinced you are right about?
- The one so small you have not even admitted it to God?
- When was the last time you chose to let something go even though you were 100% correct?
- How did it feel an hour later?
- Who is the person in your life right now that you would rather be right than be close to?
Prayer
Father, today I come to you and I am just going to be honest. I do not even want to let this go. I want to be right. I want them to know they were wrong. I want to win.
I confess that almost all the anger in my life is not righteousness. It is pride. It is the quietly stupid belief that I deserve better than I am getting. That my way is the right way, and everyone else should just agree with me.
Today I do not ask you to change them. I do not ask you to make them see how wrong they are. I ask you to change me. Give me the grace to be wrong sometimes. Give me the grace to let it go even when I am right. Give me the courage to say I am sorry even when I only did ten per cent of the wrong.
Teach me to love peace more than I love being right. That is the hardest prayer I will ever pray. But that is the one I need today.
In Jesus' name, amen.
