Welcome to The Daily, where we study the Bible verse by verse, chapter by chapter, every day.

Today's shout-out goes to William Childress from Clanton, AL. Your commitment through Project23 helps deliver God's Word daily with clarity and conviction. This one's for you.

Our text today is Judges 12:5-6.

And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, "Let me go over," the men of Gilead said to him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" When he said, "No," they said to him, "Then say Shibboleth," and he said, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites fell. — Judges 12:5-6

The pride-fueled conflict between Ephraim and Gilead spiraled into devastation. At the Jordan River crossings, men were identified by a single word—"Shibboleth." Ephraim's inability to pronounce it exposed them, and 42,000 were slaughtered.

This wasn't just a loss of numbers; it was a loss of brothers. Israel's strength was drained not by foreign invaders, but by internal division. Pride always extracts a heavier toll than we imagine.

Pride blinds us. It convinces us that winning the argument, defending our ego, or holding the grudge is worth it. But pride always takes more than it gives. For Ephraim, it cost 42,000 lives. For us, pride may not take thousands, but it can destroy marriages, split churches, fracture friendships, and poison families.

The irony is, pride promises control but always delivers destruction. It tricks us into thinking we're winning when we're really losing. It makes us fight battles we never needed to fight and leaves scars we never needed to carry. Pride robs marriages of peace, friendships of trust, churches of unity, and leaders of influence.

But humility does the opposite. It restores what pride destroys. It creates peace, strengthens relationships, and builds trust where pride would tear it down.

Don't wait until pride costs you everything to discover it's not worth the price. Choose humility now—before pride takes what you can never get back. The cost of pride is devastation, but the opportunity of humility is life, peace, and blessing.

ASK THIS:

1. Where is pride quietly at work in my life right now?
2. What relationships am I putting at risk because of stubborn ego?
3. Do I really believe humility saves more than pride ever can?

DO THIS:

Today, choose one area where pride is whispering, "Defend yourself." Instead, practice humility. Admit the fault, forgive the offense, or let go of the need to win.

PRAY THIS:

Lord, protect me from the cost of pride. Give me humility to value unity over ego and peace over being right. Help me see that humility leads to life, but pride always ends in destruction. Amen.

PLAY THIS:

"Humble King."