PRIDE AND ITS DESTRUCTION

Throughout the Bible, we find that the proud will suffer in the end:

·       Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. (Proverbs 16:18-19 (ESV)

In the Bible, pride is closely associated with a “haughty spirit” and arrogance. It is also contrasted with humility and a “lowly spirit.” But isn’t pride sometimes a good thing? Yes! We can take pride in doing a good job or even in resisting evil, but this is a different kind of pride – not the pride spoken against in the Bible, a pride associated with arrogance and self-righteousness, not a pride that exalts itself over others.

But why does God hate arrogance and self-righteousness, as many verses declare?

·       Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished. (Proverbs 16:5)

Perhaps these verses might help us to understand God’s hatred of pride:

·       In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.” His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them. He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.” His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net. (Psalm 10:2-9)

Notice again the close association between pride, arrogance, wickedness, self-confidence, deceit, the denial of God, and the oppression of the vulnerable. But why would pride be associated with these various evils? Pride is the opposite of humility. Humility is the recognition of our neediness. It is, therefore, open to God, wisdom, and to virtue. Pride is belief in oneself, one’s moral sufficiency, and a refusal to soberly regard itself and to love truth. It is unwilling to receive correction or anything that does not contribute to self-righteousness and self-glorification. As such, pride has a disdain for the wisdom or the righteousness of God. Pride is hardened, unreceptive, and will receive the fruits of its own way:

·       Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD, would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof, therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices. (Proverbs 1:29-31)