Text- James 4:6 – “But he gives more grace. Therefore he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble”
There is this common saying that “Pride goes before a fall”. This was exactly the case with Lucifer, who became proud and thus became a fallen angel! The original sin of Lucifer (rebelling against God) was a product of pride.
A proud person is someone who is so full of himself/herself, whereas God desires that we empty ourselves, so that he can fill us up. For this reason, Bible says God resists the proud.
Pride is when you think too highly of yourself. It is first and foremost a state of the heart. Pride includes a degree of haughtiness – a measure of selfcenteredness and contempt for others. Someone once said, “Pride is the sin most likely to keep you from crying out for a Savior.”
One sign that you may be proud is that you are more concerned with people’s perception of you than God’s perception. This way, you tend to fight the sins that have an impact on how others view you, but you condone the ones that happen in secret, that only God sees.
Another sign of pride is when a person forms the habit of taking a defensive posture and reacting against correction and rebuke. Simply put, a proud person hates to be corrected or rebuked.
One other sign of pride is when you have a sense of entitlement; or you somewhat feel the world revolves (or should revolve) around you, such that you feel your life, problems, etc. are more important than other people's, and you expect everyone to drop everything and attend to you when you need them.
A sense of entitlement (that is, pride) is also the case when you get hurt if your feelings or opinions are not considered when a decision is being made (in church, by your boss etc.) or if you are not informed when a change or decision is made.
Pride also shows itself when you feel you have ‘nothing’ to learn from certain people, especially people you think are ‘below you’ (because you think they are less educated, less affluent, less refined, or less successful than you are) and those you are envious of (because you hate the fact that they are ahead of you or better than you).
A proud person also finds it hard to ask for help or let others know when they need help. Pride makes it difficult for a person to admit that something is beyond his/her capacity or that he/she has a shortcoming.
Finally, one of the hallmarks of pride is unwillingness to submit to authority (in Church, at work, at home or in any other relationship). A proud person hates taking a subordinate position, or being told what to do; they may submit outwardly but inwardly they struggle to accept the authority of the person God has placed over them.
Perhaps, as you read this, you are there thinking about how many of the aforementioned signs apply to someone you know, while feeling pretty good that none of them really apply to you – check again, pride may be the reason. Beloved, it is better to be humble than to be humbled. Remember, God’s resists the proud, but gives more grace to the humble.
PRAYER
Father, I repent of pride today, and I ask that you please, uproot every trace of pride from my life. Help me to identify any subtle way in which pride wants to creep into my life, and grant me the grace to overcome it. Lord, please teach to exhibit more humility in my life in Jesus Name.