Pride is not only thinking you are better than everyone else. Pride is being self-reliant instead of God-reliant. Satan uses pride to bring us down. Afterall, it is what brought him down. However, pride it a greater enemy than the devil himself. The devil cannot destroy you without your consent. Pride will make you unusable to God.
James 4:6b “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” (NKJ) (resist = Greek = antitássomai –antí, “opposite to, against” and tássō, “arrange, order” – properly, “squared off” opposite of; opposed to in principle and in practice.)
1 Peter 5:5b … be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” (NKJ) (resist = Greek = antitássomai, a very old military term used for placing a soldier in a specific platoon, with a specific function, with a definite order, to attack or resist.)
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (KJV)
We use words like “Take pride in your work.” or “I’m proud of my children.” We are defining pride as delight or fulfillment.
But the definition of pride according to Merriam-Webster is “confidence and satisfaction in oneself.” Oxford defines it as “the quality of having an excessively high opinion of oneself or one’s own importance.”
In truth, pride is the source of arguments, strife, and contention.
Proverbs 13:10 Only by pride comes contention: but with the well advised is wisdom. (KJV)
We like to justify ourselves by thinking “Well, I have a right to feel or act this way.” “If I don’t take up for myself, who will.”
Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise. (NKJ)
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. (NKJ)
Proverbs 16:2 All a man’s ways are pure in his own eyes, but his motives are weighed out by the LORD. (NKJ)
We cannot please God when we do our own thing. He wants us to put our trust in Him and not in our own abilities.
Psalm 147:10-11 The Lord does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. 11 The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy. (NKJ)
Psalm 40:4 Blessed is that man who makes the LORD his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies. (NKJ) (blessed = Hebrew = how happy)
Not respecting the proud means not to take the advice of the world. We are in this world but not of it. We do not have to live with the same results as the world does.
2 Corinthains 6:17 Therefore “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” (NKJ)
We make different choices from the world. Our decisions are based on the Word of God and not on the circumstances.
Where is your trust? Yourself, the government, your doctor?
Jeremiah 17:5-8 Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. 6 For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited. 7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. 8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit. (NKJ)
Trusting yourself (or anyone else) is the polar-opposite of trusting God.
Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the LORD our God. (NKJ) (remember = Hebrew = make mention of, be mindful, recount)
When troubles come our way and decisions must be made, we need to remind ourselves what the Scriptures say.
Proverbs 3:5-8 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. 8 It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones. (NKJ)
The word acknowledge means “to know” or “to act on the knowledge of Him.” To know Him, you must get to know His Word. Don’t allow pride to rob you of His blessings. Trust Him over everything and everyone else. Including yourself.
