If being humble is rewarded, what will happen to the proud?

We talked about the promises God makes to those who aren't afraid to humble themselves, and today I want to take a look at the consequences if hanging on to our pride. I think just about everyone knows the saying "pride goes before a fall" but that's not the half of it.


Here's the source of the saying we all know:

Proverbs 16:18 - " Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall."

also Proverbs 18:12 - "Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor."

But what else can we learn about pride?

The Lord Himself deals with the proud. He humbles His children by changing their circumstances or afflicting them so that their pride is stripped away - look what He says about the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness...

Deuteronomy 8:3 - "He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then He gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."

Deuteronomy 8:16 - "He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper."

Others He just wipes out.

Proverbs 15:25 - "The LORD destroys the house of the proud"

But either way, He doesn't just blow it off. He really hates pride.

Proverbs 16:5 - "Everyone with a proud heart is detestable to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished."

Often God will keep our resources limited (finances, influence, etc) to protect us from the pride He knows is lurking in our hearts. He knows that when life is good, we are prone to forget Him.

Hosea 13:6 - "When they had pasture, they became satisfied; they were satisfied, and their hearts became proud. Therefore they forgot Me."

Do you feel like God is resisting you? Does it seem like everything you are trying to accomplish, even in ministry, is hard and uphill?  Check your heart - are you certain you don't have pride to repent of?

James 4:6 - "Therefore He says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

What should be our response to pride when we recognize it?

Proverbs 8:13 - "To fear the LORD is to hate evil. I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech."

1 John 2:15-17 - "Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. Because everything that belongs to the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle—is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God's will remains forever."

Pride in our lifestyle - I've been convicted of this because I really didn't think anything of being "proud to be an American" and pursuing the "American Dream" but isn't that really just pride in my lifestyle? It's only by the grace of God that I was born here, and not into the extreme poverty that grips most of the planet. Who am I to be proud of that? It's not my doing...or my parent's. Only God.

What does Jesus say about pride? Check out the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector...

Luke 18:9-14 - "He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else:  “Two men went up to the temple complex to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee took his stand and was praying like this: ‘God, I thank You that I’m not like other people—greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.' 
“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, turn Your wrath from me—a sinner!' I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other; because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

If we are so self-assured that we are doing good with God - we run the risk of being like that pharisee, over confident, arrogant (prideful) and condescending. God expects us to always remember that it is only His mercy that makes us worthy and holy - not our own great efforts. We are never to approach Him with anything less than humility.

I don't know about you, but I've had to be humbled by God many times in my life. For years I lived out the very words of 1 Corinthians
8:1 - "Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up." I was real short on love, and long on arrogance. Thankfully, the older I get, the more I realize what I don't know, and I've learned to pray that God would increase the love in my heart and my ability to share His grace and mercy with others. I admit though, I still struggle with pride!

Pride comes with self-confidence: "I can handle it." No, I can't. I need the power of Christ in every situation, and so do you.

Pride comes with accomplishment: "I did this." No, I didn't. Without the gifts, talents, abilities and health that God has given me, I wouldn't be doing anything.

Pride comes with comfort: "I'm doing well." No, I'm not. I'm always one step away from disaster and only God allows me success and a comfortable lifestyle - lest I forget it, and He takes it away.

You can think of other ways pride shows up in our lives - "I can figure this out," "I don't need anyone's help," "I deserve to be happy," "I," "I," "I..."

I pray that if you feel convicted of pride in any way shape or form in your life, that you will take this opportunity to humble yourself before God and begin to practice spiritual discipline to remove pride and keep it from rearing it's ugly head and thus hindering your progress in the Kingdom.

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