House of Hope Online

July 13, 2025

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Pride is defined as inordinate or excessive self-esteem or conceit.  As such, pride is one of the most dangerous pitfalls for Christians.  It has long been part of our fleshly nature.  In fact, Satan used our tendency to be prideful in the garden when He tempted 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 verses 4 and 5, Satan lies to Eve as he appeals to her pride.  Notice in verse 6, that once Eve realized that the tree was desirable for making one wise, she took from its fruit and ate.  Her fleshly desire to be wise led to her disobedience.  It led to her compromising the word of God.

We see this today very plainly.  Mankind will eagerly stray from God’s word in pursuit of knowledge and technology and “progress.”  God realized in the garden that each of us would have this fleshly tendency that Eve had, and so he warned us in His word.

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.

The word “haughty” in verse 16 means disdainfully proud or arrogant.  Disdain means a feeling of contempt, meaning that pride can lead us to hate those we consider beneath us.  Arrogance is a feeling of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner.  The arrogant person often exaggerates his or her own importance.

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;

James 4:

  16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.

Boasting is the outward sign, or symptom, of a prideful spirit.  James 4:16 calls it evil.  Over my business career, I have met many company presidents and CEOs and visited their houses on occasion.  A common characteristic of the rich is they like to show off their stuff.  You will see their big houses, their 5-car garages, the beautiful property they own, etc.  It reminds me of what Satan showed Jesus when he tempted our Lord in Matthew 4:8-9.  Satan promised Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if only Jesus would worship him.  Jesus told Satan to go away, and the devil left Him (Matthew 4:10-11). 

Now, I do not believe that riches are evil, but I know that the love of riches and boasting in riches are evil, according to Jeremiah 9 and James 4.  Like Jesus, we need to be on the lookout for pride trying to seep into our spirit, and we should ask the Holy Spirit to quicken us to extinguish it.

When You Are Not Looking, Pride Happens

We can become prideful without even realizing it.  For example, if our child does not get enough playing time in sports, we can become angry at the coach.  Anger is a deed of the flesh that the Apostle Paul warns, if we practice it, we will not inherit the Kingdom of God.  But there we go, getting angry because our child is sitting the bench at a football game.  We prepare our defense in an imaginary argument with that coach, and the anger continues to burn within us.  We think it is an anger problem, but it all stems from pride.

If I see my children in disagreement with each other, I see the devil trying to split our family.  I stress over that and become dismayed because I want my legacy to be the family I fathered, no splinters, no splits.  But why am I really bothered?  Paul asked this question of himself in Galatians 1:

Galatians 1:

 10 ¶ For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

So, when I stress over the devil sowing seeds of discord in my household, am I seeking the favor of men, or of God?  Am I a bond-servant of Jesus, or a slave to the opinion of others?  If a bond-servant of the Most High, I should be on my knees asking for His grace and favor, trusting Him to prevail in the spiritual warfare of it all, instead of fretting over the effectiveness of my fatherhood.  Succumbing to pride leads to anger which adds fuel to the fire and causes factions, divisions, and strife.

Spiritual Principle: Grace to the Humble

Yes, pride is tricky and easy to succumb to.  Like cancer to our physical bodies, pride is a spiritual disease that can sneak in and block us from the grace of God.  James 4 teaches us that if we walk in pride, God is opposed to us.  Grace comes only to the humble.

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.

Grace comes to the humble, not the prideful.  We must resist the sin of pride by humbling ourselves before the Lord.  The greatest moments I have had with the Lord were those when the Holy Spirit convicted me of sin, and I repented before Him.  Instead of feeling condemned in humiliation, I was uplifted with the joy of the Lord because He just made me better.  As verse 10 says, humble yourselves in His presence and He will exalt you.

Pride and Grace and Weakness and Power

There is an old expression in the Church that goes something like this: “What begins in the Spirit sometimes ends in the flesh.”  The phrase refers to the natural tendency of fleshly pride to enter even the most spiritual among us. 

There is nothing greater than operating in the gifts of the Spirit of God.  It is awesome to get a word from God, to know it is from God, and to speak it forth.  There is no greater feeling.  But just like Eve, it is easy for us to be enticed by the idea of being wise or gifted, and this can lead to pride and arrogance, and eventually downfall because God is opposed to the proud.  We must all realize that we are sinners saved by grace, that no one should boast.

Ephesians 2:

 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God;

 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast.

The Apostle Paul has an amazing testimony about pride versus grace in 2^nd Corinthians 12.

2^nd Corinthians 12:

 7 And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me–to keep me from exalting myself!

 8 Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me.

 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Notice in verse 7 that because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, to keep Paul from exalting himself, he was given a thorn in the flesh, a physical ailment, a messenger of Satan, to stop him from exalting himself.  A couple of things to point out here:

• The surpassing greatness of the revelations refers to the visitation of Jesus on the road to Damascus when Paul was converted.  He was taken up to heaven and given great revelation, and therefore Paul said to prevent him from exalting himself, He was given the physical ailment.
• The physical ailment came from Satan because God does not put sickness on us, although He may allow us to walk through medical trials.
• Paul prayed three times for healing, but the word of the Lord is: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”  There is a lesson for us when we ask for healing and do not receive it.  Sometimes His grace is the answer.  Sometimes His grace is our healing because His power is perfected in our weakness.
• To receive His grace, we must be weakened by humility.  Pride does not receive grace, only humility does.
• Paul concludes he is content in weaknesses, with insults, distresses, and persecutions for Christ’s sake, knowing it leads to the strength of God’s grace.

Closing

When it comes to pride, it is easy for us to see the speck in our brother’s eye, while ignoring the log in our own eye.  Pride is tricky like that.  We want to feel good about ourselves and often we do that by judging others.

But the word of the Lord for us today is to humble ourselves before the Lord and ask Him to send the Holy Spirit to crucify our flesh, to kill the pride in us.  In the weakness of that moment, we will be made strong.  God’s grace is sufficient for us.  His power is perfected in our weakness.

Let us pray.    

Father God, we bow humbly before You and pray that all pride would be revealed and removed from us.  Take all haughtiness and arrogance from us and replace it with Your grace.  We submit to You, Lord, and trust that the enemy will flee.  Your grace is sufficient for us, and Your power is perfected in our weakness.  In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.