Pride? Me? Nah: The Danger of a Prideful Heart

I've seen it many times with a front row seat at the base of a big oak tree, a gobbler (a male, wild turkey) making his way to a hen.  He starts out cautiously at first, feathers down, not looking all that different from his potential mate, but once his eyes make contact with her it happens.  He gets puffed up, tail feathers spread out in a beautiful fan, and he begins to strut.  Back and forth he struts in a display meant to impress.  What's he saying?  "Look at me!  Aren't I something awesome?  See how big and handsome I am?  I'm bigger than the gobbler over there  so focus your attention on ME."  But you know the reality of it?  It's just air, the same skinny turkey with a whole lot of fluff.  In this situation it's natural and it's part of reproduction but it's a great analogy for the sin of all sins - human pride.

I took a little time today to do a word search in the Bible for pride, proud, haughty, and arrogant.  It was astounding!  It was incredibly humbling.  It was a word for me and it is a word for you.  I could just list off the scripture verses that describe God's view of and his reaction to pride but it would take a small book to do that.  When you're finished with this post you might want to go to Biblegateway Keyword Search and type in "pride". You'll be humbled too.  But for now I want to give you a little taste of what you'll find.

When most of us think of sin (if we think of sin at all) we think of murder, lust, adultery, lying, or stealing.  But I believe that one sin is at the root of all of them and one sin God hates above all else - PRIDE.  Why is that? Because pride is our way of attempting to make ourselves like a god.  We attempt to put ourselves on a throne,  But guess what?  It's just a bunch of hot air.  We like the gobbler are not really that big or impressive.  Actually, we're really quite broken and weak.  But before you say "Me?  I'm actually quite humble." be careful because pride can often be a subtle but equally dangerous sin.

Let me give you a couple verses that demonstrate, with no ambiguity, how God feels about pride:

Psalm 101:5

"Whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate."

Proverbs 16:5

"The Lord detests all the proud of heart.  Be sure of this, they will not go unpunished."

So what's the big deal?  Pride?  Really?  It can't be as bad as the other sins. But it is.  It leads to a false sense that we don't really need God.  Even if we are believers we can begin to feel like we are something special either because we're part of the "saved" group or because we're doing great things for God.  What happens when we start to get puffed up like God predicted Israel would do?

Deuteronomy 8:13-15

"When your herds and your flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery."

Pride gone unchecked will lead to separation from God and ultimately a crash and burn.  Hear this verse about King Uzziah in 2 Chronicles 26:16:

"But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride lead to his downfall.  He was unfaithful to the Lord his God . . . "

Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."

Sure pride can be overt.  We've all seen or know someone who talks big, walks big, and thinks they are "God's gift to mankind".  Hollywood is full of them but I know God is just as concerned with his children, believers in His Son, believers who harbor little tentacles of pride that can undermine the working of the Holy Spirit through them.  God was concerned that the Apostle Paul would become prideful because of the position he had been given and because of the great revelations God had shown him.  Apparently Paul was unable to self contain his pride so God gave him a "thorn in the flesh"

2 Corinthians 12:7

"Therefore, in order to keep me from being conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me."

WOW!  God let Satan "torment" Paul to prevent him from becoming prideful.  He must really hate pride!

Before we close let's do a little self-examination for pride in our lives.  See if any of these thoughts or actions creep up in your life:

1)  When someone talks about their kid, maybe a sporting accomplishment or school grade, does you mind immediately turn to your kid and how they compare.  Do you feel 100% excited for them or do you lose a little of it in competitiveness?  That's pride.

2)  When you serve in church or in some ministry and someone talks about their service to God do your thoughts and maybe even your words turn to your accomplishments and your godliness?  Be truthful. We are competitive, even when it comes to serving God.  It's pride.

3)  When you go to the gym, run a few miles, decide which shirt will make you look the best or when you take that one extra look in the mirror in the morning, what is you motive?  Is it just to keep your God given body healthy or is it to impress man (or woman)

Be brutally honest with yourself.  It's OK. You're not alone.  We ALL harbor pride in our hearts.  The key is to be honest, identify it, acknowledge it before God and pray for humility. Remember that Jesus, the only son of the Most High God, through whom all things were made, came from heaven and was born in a dirty manger.  On his knees he washed the feet of his disciples. On the cross he was nailed and died.  He who had no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God.  That is humble. That is beautiful.

I'll leave you with this:

Psalm 149:4

"For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory."

If you want to wear a crown given by God himself seek humility.  As in all my blogs, this message was first to me and to my prideful heart. I pray it touches yours.

Peace,

David