When we hear the word “pride” we generally think of it as being a bad thing. We read in Proverbs 16:1819, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.” See what I mean? According to God’s word, pride will destroy us, and thinking more of ourselves (haughty spirit) will lead to a fall. Jesus gave a really good illustration of this concept.
In Luke 14:8-10 Jesus said, “’When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest one more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, ‘Give place to this man,’ and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, go up higher.’ Then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.’” Our pride can get us into a lot of trouble.
On the other hand, acting in true humility can exalt us. In the mid eighties we started a congregation in a particular denomination. We had very humble beginnings. I mean humble, like we had no where to meet and my brother-inlaw offered his barn. We fixed it up and were very happy with our arrangement. But I think our little “barn-church” might have caused a few raised eyebrows in the other, richer and more established congregations in our district. There came a day when a special meeting was called in the district. Actually, one of my Bible School instructors was to be the guest speaker. Our little group loaded up in a rented van and headed to Anderson, Indiana. We got there a little late and the building was packed. The only seats available were right on the first and second row and so our little rag-tag congregation paraded up to the front as we attempted to dodge judgmental eyes. I noticed that all the pastors were sitting on the platform, but I just didn’t feel that I was in their league so I sat with my congregation. I could feel the eyes of some of those pastors staring me down. It made me wonder if they expected the pastor of a “barn-church” to be dressed in bib-overalls. I felt out of place but then, I wasn’t there to be seen but to worship and hear a message from my old school mentor.
Just then, the speaker, my old teacher stood up and motioned for me to come up on the platform to sit. I could tell that some of those pastors who seemed to look down on me disapproved, but this was the main speaker and they had to accept his decision. I sheepishly followed his direction and ignored those who looked down on me in their pride. I was brought up from a lower seat to a more honorable position. That’s what Jesus meant and when we refuse to walk in pride we will be rewarded for it.
There are some good forms of pride. Take for instance, “I sure am proud of my kids.” Is it sinful to be proud of one’s children? Of course not! What about, “I’m proud to be an American,” or whatever country you may be from. Is it wrong to be proud of one’s heritage? I don’t think so. One more, “Take some pride in the way you look.” This could be a matter of wrongful pride, but it could also be a good thing to want to be clean and neat. The key to good pride is that it really isn’t pride but being happy about your kids, or your country or your appearance. You can feel good about things without thinking that you are better or more important than someone else.
Pride can be exhibited in any walk in life. Have you ever heard someone say, “I’m poor but I’m proud!” Or, “I’m too proud to accept charity.” These feelings can be just as sinful as a wealthy person looking down on someone who is less fortunate. God hates pride because it builds a barrier between men. It can make us feel like we are better than someone else when God has created us all as equals.
Here are God’ reactions to pride: He hates it (Proverbs 8:13).
He has no respect for it (Psalm 40:4).
He has no patience for it (Psalm 101:5).
He counts it as an abomination (Proverbs 16:5).
He is distant to it (Psalm 138:6).
He resists it (James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5).
Here are just a few of the ways it affects us: It will bring us low (Proverbs 29:23, Jeremiah 49:16 and Obadiah 3).
It was one of the issues that caused the destruction of Sodom. They were proud of their sexual choices and decisions (Ezekiel 16:49).
It changed Nebuchadnezzar from being lifted up in pride and then becoming humbled (He was made to go mad and live like a wild animal – Daniel 5:20).
No wonder the Psalmist wrote, asking God, “let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked drive me away.” (Psalm 36:11). If you read the history of David, you will discover that he learned many lessons the hard way. That’s why he could ask this favor of God, not selfishly but knowing what the outcome could be.
Finally, we have the example of the rich farmer Jesus spoke about in Luke 12:16-21. Apparently, the farmer had done quite well and had been very successful. He looked at all he had and made the statement (in my own words), “I’ve done so well I think I will tear down my barns and build bigger barns to store it all. Then I’m just going to sit back and relax.” Now, there’s nothing wrong in preparing for retirement. The problem arrived when he looked beyond God’s provision, lifted himself up in pride taking full credit for his accomplishments and completely ignoring God’s provision. His prideful attitude caused God to say to him, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then who’s will those things be which you have provided?” He hadn’t thought of that!
I suppose when we are feeling good about ourselves for whatever reason, before we speak, we need to think in our hearts asking ourselves, “Do I feel good because of the accomplishments of someone else, or am I being arrogant and proud that I have done this better than anyone else?” How we answer that question could let us know if we are living in good pride or bad.
— Jerry D. Ousley is the author of “Soul Challenge”, “Soul Journey”, “Ordeal”, “The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional” and his first novel “The Shoe Tree.” Newer books include “Finality” and “Dividing God’s Church.” Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.