Pride…let’s spell it out letter by letter…all upper case…P R
I D E
Every one of us is infected by this soul-poisoning organism
that creeps, undetected, into our hearts, surreptitiously spawning destruction.
Scripture is impregnated with verse after verse that warns
of the dangers of pride. It was Lucifer’s pride coupled with envy that caused
his downfall. His prideful attempt to elevate himself to God’s position so failed
that he fell, has fallen, is falling and will fall.
And, like Lucifer, we all have that tendency toward a high
opinion of ourselves, but Paul tells us that we are not to think of ourselves
more highly than we should (see Romans 12:3). Paul speaks from firsthand
experience, as before his conversion from being Saul, he believed that his self-styled
ministry of persecution, born out of pharisaic beliefs, was acting in the will and
purpose of God.
Saul, like any other Pharisee, was ignited and driven by spiritual
pride. He thought that he was doing God a favour in his doomed ambition to
destroy the church and the followers of Christ. The Lord striking him down and causing
him to wander in darkness for three days, marked the death of pride in him.
We must be willing to experience the death of our personal puffed-up
ambitions which are rooted in pride.
Pride is carnal baggage – a heavy load which we need to
discard. If we insist on holding onto it, we will eventually sink from its
weight. Pride always comes before a fall; we can count on that.
I like this to-the-point translation,
“First pride, then the crash – the bigger the ego, the
harder the fall.” (Proverbs 16:18 MSG)
We will crash.
It is quite unfortunate that our churches are filled with
big-ego Christians who, tainted with self-righteousness and religious conceit, preach
down to their fellow congregants, belittling their personhood and their
intellect.
Those Christians whose evangelism is smeared with scorn and
reproach. Those
Christians who do not even realize that their message, though biblically
sound, is rendered powerless in the face of their prideful approach. They awaken
no one to the need for Christ in their haughtiness. Trying to assume the role
of the Holy Spirit, their attempt at conviction comes across as condemnation
because that is not their job (see John 16:8). All that does is make others
feel that they are unworthy of God’s love and certainly not worthy of inclusion
into the Body of Christ.
Too many pride-filled Christians jump onto the evangelism bus
carrying their self-confident notions in hand without ever seeking guidance
from the Holy Spirit.
Before any of us attempt to evangelize anyone, we need to honestly
evaluate our feelings, our beliefs and our motives and pray; pray that God will
reveal the real us; pray that any scales of conceit will fall from our eyes.
You do not truly know yourself when you fail to recognize
that you are full of yourself. Those scales need to go!
Pride, accompanied by its twin, arrogance, distorts our
perspective. We must take a deep look at ourselves in the blazing light of the
Spirit that shines on our sinfulness. And when the sin of pride comes into
view, we must allow Spirit to uproot it and thoroughly discard it – there can
be no holding onto a piece for replanting; no small seed kept for germinating –
throw it off completely.
“…humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God [set aside
self-righteous pride], so that He may exalt you [to a place of honor in His
service] at the appropriate time, casting all your cares [all your anxieties,
all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares
about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully]. Be
sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at
all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion
[fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.” – 1 Peter 5:6-8 (AMP)
Ignorance leaves us defenceless to the deceitfulness of
pride. The pride-filled never recognize themselves as such and have a serious problem
with ownership – they are incapable of taking ownership of their behaviour and
do not feel the need for self-examination and evaluation.
One lady, a former colleague, in the midst of telling stories
of her family vacations and their other “achievements” would slip in, “As you
know, we are very humble people”
The mere fact that she felt the need to say that reeked of
pride.
When called to give testimonies, a prominent church elder,
first at the podium, would offer a testimony where the object of his testimony
was him, never God – not Father, not Son, not Holy Spirit, just him. He too
describes himself as a humble servant.
Pride can be so subtle.
God has filled His Word with warnings about pride because He
knows the destruction that pride causes. He knows that the devil is keenly
aware of that as well. God truly cares about us and wants to keep us safe from the
evil one (see 2 Peter 3:9).
Beloved, we, young, old and everyone in-between, have all
sinned and fall short of the glory of God (see Romans 3:23). Our aim is to
understand that Jesus, in His magnificent love, took our sin on Himself, “once
for all” – He endured the punishment we deserve.
Pride is sin, and God placed the penalty for the sin of
pride on His beloved Son instead of you and me, let us not invalidate Christ’s punishment.
Let us remember God’s love, mercy and kindness to us which
ought to lead us toward repentance (see Romans 2:4). Let us turn to the cross and
turn away from the sin of pride, forsaking our way of thinking in exchange for
the mind of Christ, to become God’s ambassadors of kindness, love, compassion
and humility.
Beloved, to find greatness in God’s Kingdom we must be
servants to the people of this world.
Let’s go and sin no more (see John 8:11).
Amen †
Shelley Johnson “Let us Repent of…Pride” © March 25, 2025
