Pride Part II

One of the characteristics of the sin of pride is that it deceives the heart, as stated in Obadiah 3; “The pride of the heart hath deceived thee….”

Another characteristic of the sin of pride is that it keeps people from seeking God, as we referenced in Ps 10:4; “The wicked, through pride of his countenance, will not seek after God; God is not in his thoughts.”   This sin of pride keeps you from seeking after God because you are self-sufficient.  You go about seeking to establish your own righteousness and have never submitted yourself to the righteousness of God.    Therefore being self-sufficient, self-satisfied and self-righteous, you see no need of seeking God, not knowing what Rev. 3:17 says, that you are spiritually wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.

Another characteristic of the sin of pride is that it exalts itself against the knowledge of God. (2 Cor. 10:5)    In “your” pride you exalt yourself above the knowledge of God and depart from the basic principles of truth and fall into a state of confusion.  What makes it worse is that “your” pride rejects the one thing that will make it right with God again, which is submitting to the authority of God’s Word and listening to His voice where He tells ‘you’ to humble yourselves before Him and seek His face in righteousness.

Pride can blind ‘you’ to God’s requirements that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength and with all our mind; and we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.

The Bible speaks of another type of prideful sin; it is the pride of position.  Examples: Pharaoh, King of Egypt   Exodus 5:2, He said to Moses, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?”       

Daniel 4, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.  His heart was filled with pride and was removed from his kingly throne.

Pride of position keeps people from Christ.  Unsaved preachers in their pulpits, blinded by pride of position will not admit before God they are sinners.  People in and out of the church will not take their place before God as sinners because of their positions.  Remember, God resists the proud….

God will bring down those who have a heart contaminated with the sin of pride.  

 Hopefully, we have learned a little more about these “three friends: Strife---Envy----Pride” who cause separation between us and God.

They will also bring destruction, death and division in our lives. 

We must seek God to find out how He sees the “soil” of our hearts.  

Do our roots run deep revealing that we are rooted and grounded in Christ?   Or are our roots shallow and unstable making us double minded, being tossed to and fro?

As we live in these “Last Days,” may we humble ourselves continually in the presence of the Holy Spirit.  When tempted to be arrogant or boastful, may we yield ourselves to His control, refusing to give into the temptation of selfishness.

Only then will He be able to empower us to overcome the deadly sin of pride.

 “He shall be like a tree
         Planted by the rivers of water,
         That brings forth its fruit in its season,
         Whose leaf also shall not wither;
         And whatever he does shall prosper.”   Psalm 1:3