Is Pride Lurking to Destroy You?

Proverbs 11:2 “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom”

Pride is such an ugly thing. I am sure we all fight it at times. Even the person that has low self-esteem or a poor self-image will occasionally exhibit displays of pride. Why do people have high and lofty opinions of themselves? Is it because of how they look? If their appearance is pleasant to the eye, that’s a gift from God. God should be praised and thanksgiving should be felt – not pride. Is it because of their IQ? If they have great intelligence, that is a gift from God and they should be praising God with a heart of thanksgiving – not feeling pride. Is it because they have made decisions that have worked and born great fruit and success? Is it because their great abilities help them in their achievements? Wisdom comes from God and no one that has wisdom has gone without divine intervention of help in what they have learned and done. No one! It’s only a matter of if they can look back and see God’s hand of help that has brought them to the place they are. The person with great abilities has experienced God given deposits within them that they have secretly marveled over. They know deep in their heart they should be thankful to God for what they have been blessed with. But, pride is the I – the self, that likes the credit.

Pride blinds one from the source of what is good in their life and the ability to acknowledge it. Pride elevates one to feelings or thoughts of a high or inordinate opinion of their own importance and achievement and creates feelings of superiority over others. Pride is more blinding that blindness. Pride is foolish and makes one blindly stupid and unaware of its existence, repulsing most everyone in their life that is subject to it.

Pride will help you do the dumbest of things. I remember when I was in a training class for CPR that also covered choking. We were shown a video testimony of a man telling his story of how he almost choked to death. He was sitting in a fancy restaurant with his family in New York having dinner when suddenly he began to choke on a piece of steak. It was lodged in his throat and he could not breath. He said he was too prideful and embarrassed to make a scene. He got up from the table without anyone really knowing he was choking. He swiftly moved into another room where no one was – thinking he resolve this himself. Instead he passed out. By the grace of God someone just happened to found him that also just happened to know the Heimlich maneuver. They did it on him and dislodged the meat in his throat. If not for just the right person passing through that room at that moment, he would have died for sure. He went on to say that it was his pride that stopped him from making a scene or asking for help. He didn’t want to look stupid. Pride almost killed him.

I have known people that have refused to apologize for wrong decisions that they could have turned around – critical decisions that affected their family and others. And why? They wouldn’t think its pride. They may think its fear – maybe that their admission or apology wouldn’t be accepted – maybe that they’d make a bigger mess. Whatever – it boils down to pride.

In the book of James, God is talking about restraining and avoiding ungodly behavior –adultery being one of them. It wouldn’t seem that adultery would be considered the sin of pride. But as James is teaching us, he boils it down to this. When you aren’t doing what you know in your heart you should be doing, it’s bottom-line pride. It’s time to get over yourself – bite the bullet – and go make right what you should make right or go do what you should do.

In James 4:6-10, we read, “But God gives us more grace (His supernatural mercy, help, and intervention.) That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

I felt an overwhelming urging from the Holy Spirit to put this out today. I sensed that there are those that are holding themselves back from making something right that God is dealing with them about. It’s not fear holding you back. It’s pride!

I sincerely sense that some of you are near the end of your opportunity to turn around a wrong decision that is presently stealing much of the quality of your spiritual and natural life. Pride is keeping you in it and is ready to steal more from you. As of now, it’s not too late. If this is a prompting of God, humble yourself and act on it. God gives grace to the humble! Remember today’s Fresh Manna: Proverbs 11:2 “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom”

In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt
http://readfreshmanna.blogspot.com/