The Truth About Pride
June has always been one of my favorite months of the year. Spring is the time of a new beginning and of new love, with many people (including myself) getting married. It's a month of relaxing a little after a challenging winter schedule and the stress of the end of the school year. The month of May is no joke! However, lately, June has been overshadowed by something else – pride. As I pondered this reality, I felt God nudging me to write about what the Bible says about pride.
I hesitated to take on this subject because it's hard to separate the pride community from the issue of pride itself. But because this word currently has the world's attention, it's important to get God's perspective on it.
First things first, this blog is not to bash any group of people. The Bible is very clear about how we are to treat all people, and that is with love. Unfortunately, people think that to love someone means that you have to agree with them. That is just not true! I'm so thankful that God's love toward me isn't reliant on my actions. He loves me at my best and my worst.
Pride is Not of God
Pride is a word that has slipped into the fabric of our culture seamlessly, with more prominence each passing year. As Christians, we innocently talk about how proud we are of our children or ourselves – I'm in the same boat. Therefore, this message is a wake-up call for me as well. Being proud of someone's achievements seems like no big deal. However, you never read about Jesus or His disciples using that word. On the contrary, the Bible only speaks against pride. Here are just a few scriptures on the subject:
"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18
"By pride comes nothing but strife, but with the well-advised is wisdom." Proverbs 13:10
"When pride comes, then comes shame; but with the humble is wisdom." Proverbs 11:2
"But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
James 4:6
"A man's pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor." Proverbs 29:23
"For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he out to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith." Romans 12:3
"Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." 1 Peter 5:5
"For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world." 1 John 2:16
"Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty. And before honor is humility." Proverbs 18:12
"Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished." Proverbs 16:5
"The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate." Proverbs 18:13
I could go on and on with scriptures about God's thoughts on pride, but I think we get the point. It's not good!
I can hear the argument, "So, what should we say if we're 'proud' of our children?" (I asked the Holy Spirit the same question) This is what I feel God teaching me. Let's define what we're "proud" of. Are we feeling love, contentment, gratitude, joy, or excitement? Those are all emotions that can be backed by God.
For example, you could say:
"God has blessed you with so many talents, I love watching you develop them."
"It blessed me to watch you handle that situation with wisdom and grace."
"Nothing makes my heart happier than to watch you have success."
"I'm so excited for what God is doing in your life. Thank you for following Him."
"It gives me peace of mind knowing that you're doing what you love and are gifted by God to do."
Illuminate the power of God working in their life instead of an emotion that is subject to change.
More Than A Feeling
As I was writing the scriptures above, 1 John 2:16 stuck out. "For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world."
Pride is a worldly concept and was the cause of Lucifer's falling from heaven. He began to be prideful of how God created Him. Isaiah 14:12-14 reads, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'"
Yikes! He forgot that he was the created, not the creator. Therefore, you could say that pride was the first sin committed by Lucifer. And he has been deceiving people with pride ever since.
Pride, at its very root, is giving yourself credit for something good happening. However, James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights." Nothing but good comes from God.
Galatians 5 tells us that pride fits into the category of walking in the flesh, not of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Gentleness means to have meekness and humility, which is the opposite of pride. As you can see, pride isn't a fruit we should produce and demonstrate in our lives.
I know this is an area that I need to work on. It's so easy to slip into pride. There's nothing wrong with being confident and feeling good about yourself, but the key is if you place the reason for your success on you or on God.
Without God's grace, we are nothing. Our gifts and talents come from Him alone. He put our DNA together and formed us in our mother's womb. We can and should develop those gifts, but we must always keep our eyes and focus on Jesus, not ourselves.
My Truth
The phrase "my truth" is commonly tossed around like a badge of honor. It makes all of the beliefs out there magically okay. It sounds good on the onset but is deceitfully dangerous.
There is one truth – Jesus. Jesus says in John 14:6, "I am the way, THE truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." When we say something is "my truth," we imply that truth is negotiable. Isn't that what is happening in today's society? Whatever makes us feel good is our truth. Talk about pride! We have bought into Frank Sinatra's famous lyrics, "I did it my way."
Jesus likened doing things our own way to building a house on the sand. Matthew 6:24-27 reads, "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
That sounds a lot like Proverbs 18:16, "Pride goes before destruction."
I want to ensure that my life is built on the rock, THE TRUTH, Jesus. There is no other foundation that will stand the test of time and the storms of life. We must renew our minds and change our thoughts to His to build on THE truth. We will need to change our actions and our words to match His.
Romans 12:2 says, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
We are the ones who need to change and be transformed to what the Word says, not the other way around. God will not change. The scripture says He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Okay, that's enough of a "truth bomb" for today. I think we all need to digest this one – I know I do! Let me know your thoughts in the comments.