As I sought the Lord this morning for a word, the word that jumped out to me was “pride.” It was like: “Uh-oh, what have I done now, Lord?” God went on to reason with me that the sin of pride leads to many of the ills in our society, and is perhaps the principal reason we have such disunity and anger in the world today.
Pride is defined on Dictionary.com as “a high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority.” Man’s concern with superiority dates to the commission of the original sin in Genesis 3 below, where the devil tempted and deceived Adam and Eve.
Genesis 3:
4 And the serpent said to the woman, “You surely shall not die!
5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 ¶ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make [one] wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
In verse 4 above, Satan challenges the word of God, which is the voice of unbelief, but what stands out to me in this passage is the reasoning of Eve in verse 6. When she saw the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took the fruit and ate and gave it to Adam, who also ate.
This desire to have a high opinion of ourselves, our knowledge, importance, or superiority did not stop with Adam and Eve. It remains quite prevalent today. Our desire to be wise, the smartest one in the room, is part of our fleshly nature.
Arrogance is closely related to pride. Arrogance is defined as “an offensive display of superiority, or self-importance; overbearing pride.” Is there anything more offensive than when someone makes clear they think they are smarter than we are? Or a better athlete? Or a better Christian? Arrogance in others is offensive to us because it offends our own pride.
We walk in pride when we want to be right in our debates. We argue with others, in person or on social media, because we want to be right. It leads to outbursts of anger and strife, both of which are deeds of the flesh. We want to be the smart one. I remember one time I wrote a letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in which I expressed my faith in the word of God, and then made the mistake of reading the written comments that were posted to the online version of the newspaper. Many of the comments were from unbelievers who were offensive, but they offended me because of my own pride. I was looking for applause and affirmation of my writing. I wanted so much to respond to the comments, but the Lord prevented me. Instead, He had me pray against the voice of unbelief with compassion. When we speak for the Lord, we must be cautious and make sure our pride and self-righteousness are not talking.
Satan had a problem with pride, and so he refused to submit to God. The prophet Isaiah called Satan out on it in Isaiah 14 below:
Isaiah 14:
12 “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations!
13 “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.
14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’
15 “Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.
Satan was unwilling to submit to God, and he therefore fell from heaven, and was condemned to hell as a result. The Bible tell us that Satan has already been judged because of his refusal to submit. The same will happen to us if we allow our pride to go unrestrained, and refuse to submit to the Word of God. We are living in the age of grace today due to Jesus, but the day is coming when we all must submit, or face eternal damnation with Satan.
Satan knows that we have the potential to fall victim to pride, and so he uses that as a primary temptation in our lives, just as he did with Adam and Eve. When you think about it, pride is the primary obstacle that separates the unbeliever from submission to the Word of God, that is Jesus Christ. To accept the written word of God, we must humble ourselves and acknowledge Jesus’ superiority over us. He is not just Savior. He is Lord and Savior. He is the Word of God, and so when we say we believe in Jesus, we are saying we believe everything in the Bible, despite the opinion of an unbelieving world who worships its own knowledge.
This is a big deal to Jesus. There are plenty of scriptures that exhort us to suppress our pride and its resultant anger, and instead to humbly submit to God.
Romans 12:
16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.
Jeremiah 9:
23 ¶ Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;
24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things, “declares the LORD.
Proverbs 6:
16 There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil,
19 A false witness [who] utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.
James 4:
16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.
17 Therefore, to one who knows [the] right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin.
And to the extent our pride leads to anger, receive the following scriptures. Forgive the arrogant and the prideful who oppose you.
Ephesians 4:
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
32 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
James 1:
19 ¶ [This] you know, my beloved brethren. But let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak [and] slow to anger;
20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.
Verse 20 above is significant. Our anger does not achieve the righteousness of God. Some point to the righteous indignation of Jesus (when He overturned the tables in the temple) to justify their anger but that was the righteous indignation of Almighty God. Our anger is the anger of prideful man. So, when we become angry with sinners in this world, we are not achieving the righteousness of God.
The key to overcoming our pride and resulting anger is humbly submitting to God, resisting the devil, and allowing the Holy Spirit to minister His fruit into our lives.
James 4:
6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore [it] says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”
7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
James 4:
10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
Galatians 5:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
26 Let us not become boastful, challenging one another, envying one another.
As Christians, we can become arrogant in our salvation, and ignore the ills of a prideful spirit growing in our lives. Let’s not allow that. Let us instead humbly submit to God and acknowledge the weakness of our fleshly nature. Ask the Holy Spirit to help with our self-control of pride and arrogance, and He will exalt us.
Father God, thank you for the wisdom of your word regarding pride and arrogance. We humbly submit to You. Empower us to resist the devil. Examine us, Lord, and rid us of pride, strife, and anger. Endow us with the fruit of the Spirit. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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