TODAY’S WORD FOR TUESDAY JANUARY 26, 2016.
PRIDE
PRIDE
Self-respect; self-esteem; a feeling of gratification arising from the association with something good or laudable; arrogance; an excessively high opinion of oneself.
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.
Self-respect is a positive form of pride. It is what motivates us to strive to be the best we can be. When a person is an unbeliever he or she needs to have some way to feel satisfied and so most people tend to become very proud of what they do or who they are.
Many parents today do not encourage and compliment their children when they do something good. When not encouraged or complimented children feel that everyone else is better than they are and they are worthless. When not encouraged as they grow in the home children, when they grow up, fall into the wrong crowd and do the wrong things.
As believers our pride should be in our faith in Jesus since we accepted God’s gift of eternal life when we accepted Him as our personal Savior.
In the verse we have put above from I John we are warned by the apostle John that things of the world such as lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride in ourselves are not of God.
There are numerous references in Proverbs reminding us that God is absolute in condemning pride. Proverbs 6:16-19 lists 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 us that “When pride comes, then comes disgrace but with humility comes wisdom.” Pride brings downfall, destruction and disgrace and leads to quarrels. In contrast humility leads to wisdom, honor and a willingness to take advice.
Pride is arrogance and arrogance causes us to become obsessed with our own ideas. Arrogance had become a problem among some believers in the early church and instead of God’s Word standing as judge over man’s ideas the leaders of the church were judging God’s Word by their worldly ideas (I John).
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 credit and to become proud of what we have accomplished. We forget to acknowledge that it is god who gives us strength and wisdom to do what we do. Pride makes us exalt ourselves over others.
Even the disciples had a problem with pride when they were walking with God. In Luke22:24, “a dispute arose among them as to which was considered to be the greatest.” This took place at the last supper. The disciples were thinking only of themselves and not what Jesus was telling them in order to prepare them for the greatest event in history. 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.”
Our memory verse for this week is found in II Chronicles 7:14.
If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Teach me today to be humble in Your sight. Keep me away from pride as I walk and talk today. May I always give You the honor and glory for any success in my life. Thank You for the many blessings You have blessed me with and may I use these blessings not to show pride but to honor You.
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