Pride comes before a Fall

 Pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth. The 7 deadly sins. Which are you guilty of? If you’re honest with yourself, at one time or another, probably all. I know I have been and still struggle with some of these from time to time. 

Pride. It’s the sin that got Lucifer kicked out of Heaven. It’s one of the sins that lead to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them. That alone tells me God takes that sin seriously. 

What is pride? Isn’t it good to be proud of our accomplishments? To an extent, yes. But pride becomes a sin when we lift our opinion of ourselves higher then our opinion of God. Simple speaking “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought”. Romans 12:3.

Here’s what the Bible has to say about pride:

Pride leads to shame ( Proverbs 11:2 )  “When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.”

Pride leads to arguments ( Proverbs 13:10 )  “Arrogance leads only to strife, but wisdom is with the well-advised.”

Pride will be punished ( Proverbs 16:5 )  “Everyone who is proud in heart is detestable to the LORD; be assured that he will not go unpunished.”

Pride ends in destruction (One of my favorite “self-check” verses) ( Proverbs 16:18 ) “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

Pride cuts us off from God and others ( Luke 18:14 ) “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” And Matthew 20:16 “ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Another personal favorite)

God chose’s to reveal himself to the humble, not the proud ( 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 ) “ 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly and despised things of the world, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast in His presence.”

Pride is not compatible with the fruit of the Spirit ( Galatians 5:22-23 )  “ 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

God opposes the proud ( James 4:6 ) “ “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Jude 1:7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

In His Name