Pride: May 12, 2011

MAY 12, 2011. TODAYS WORD FOR THURSDAY MAY 12, 2011

PRIDE

DEFINITION:

The state or quality of being proud; self respect; self esteem; a feeling of gratification; conceit; arrogance; an excessively high opinion of oneself.

SCRIPTURE:

“For everything in the world --- the craving of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting (pride) of what he has and does --- come not from the Father but from the world.” I John 2:16

“Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18.

“A man’s pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor.” Proverbs 29:23

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE:

Take a moment and think about all the people you know. How many of them do you consider to be “proud?” When one is a unbeliever he or she needs to have some way to feel successful and so most people tend to become very proud of what they do or who they are. As believers our pride should be in our faith in Jesus and not in the things of this world. This at times is very difficult because our nature is to become proud with success and accomplishment.

Over the years we have seen many proud people take terrible falls because when a person has his hope in life built on success and accomplishments, and then when that success collapses there is a steep fall into the reality that the things in this world are only temporary. It is so important in life for us not to make pride the most important issue in our lives. Consciously and unconsciously pride creeps into our life and we must remember the fall can really hurt. We have often heard the saying that, “Pride cometh before the fall.”

Let us take a moment and look at what the scriptures say about pride. In the verse we have printed above from I John, we are reminded by the Apostle John that issues like lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride are not of God. The book of Proverbs has a number of references reminding us that God is absolute in condemning pride. Proverbs chapter 6 verses 16-19 list seven things that the Lord hates. Pride is the number one item on that list. Pride is the devils tool and is the underlying cause for many sins.

Nothing good comes from pride. Proverbs 11:2 teaches that “When pride comes, then comes disgrace but with humility comes wisdom.” Also in Proverbs we find the results of pride contrasted with the results of humility. Pride brings downfall, destruction and disgrace and leads to quarrels. Humility leads to wisdom, honor and a willingness to take advice.

John wrote these words in I John (above) from Ephesus after he had been released from prison on the isle of Patmos. John’s message was to those that were believers so that they could distinguish between truth and the errors that were creeping into the churches of the day.

Today we face the same concerns among those that know the Lord. Many churches are hampered by leadership that tries to govern or make decisions that honor God but their pride gets in the way. The same is true in family life. We have gone through several generations, especially here in North America and Europe, where we have lived in the best of times. This success and affluence has resulted in pride and has consumed our society.

The danger of pride is that it comes between us and God. It is difficult for a prideful person to rely on God. When we are successful it is human nature to want to take the credit and to become proud of what we have accomplished. We forget to remember to acknowledge that it is God who gives us strength and wisdom to do what we do. When pride takes over, we forget to give God the glory and we can no longer expect God to bless us.

When God allows us to get the best of “things” in life, so many times we walk around showing what we take pride in. Pride makes us exalt ourselves over others. Apparently, even the disciples of Jesus had a problem with pride and a desire to exalt themselves. We read in Luke 22:24 that “a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be the greatest.” This took place at the last supper. Here Jesus was trying to prepare them for the greatest event in the history of mankind and the disciples were thinking only of themselves and their own status. It wasn’t the first time they had argued about this. In Mark 9:33, Jesus indicted them for their pride saying, “If anyone wants to be first he must be the very last and the servant of all.”

In Proverbs 29 (above), we are reminded that the pride that we have in our successes will bring one low in God’s sight. In contrast the writer says that the humble in spirit will retain honor before God. God can use the humble because they have a servant's heart.

As Christians we need to live with a humble spirit no matter how great or how little our accomplishments may be. As parents we need to teach humility and warn our children about pride. And as children we need to listen, watch and learn and then pattern our lives after the ones that show humility in all they do.

One of the real blessings we had when we attended Wheaton College was watching the actions and attitude of the President of our college, Dr V. Raymond Edman. He was a humble man; second to no one else we have ever met. He showed his humility whether he was in the pulpit or with his everyday activities and conversations. Every student on campus was important to him and he was always available to all. Along with his humility came kindness, gentleness and patience. This is our prayer for you, that God will take away all your pride and give you a humble spirit that honors your Lord.

LEARNING:

Our memory verse for this week is found in Proverbs 27:1.

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

PRAYER:

Teach me today to be humble in Your sight. Help me to stay away from pride in my walk and in my talk. May others see in me a spirit of humility and not a spirit of pride. May I always give You the honor and glory for my successes. Thank You for all the many wonderful blessings You have given to me and my family. May we use these blessings not to show our pride but to honor You.