The Insidious Sin of Pride

Have you ever made the statement to yourself “I would never do (insert whatever particular thing we are offended by someone else doing)”? Have you then found yourself doing it? Pride tells us that we are too good to fall victim to certain sins that others around us may have (usually in a public manner). Have you ever thought about the fact that the statement you would never do “xyz” is a delight to the ears of Satan? As if he doesn’t have enough artillery that he uses against us, we go and give him more by succumbing to the sin of pride. The sin of thinking that we are so much more together than the next person. Sometimes we are the only ones that know when our pride over not doing that certain thing is shattered, but sometimes it’s a public shattering.

How many people do you think make it a goal to cheat on their spouse? Granted, there may be a few, but the overwhelming majority of people that end up involved in adultery never imagined they’d do that. One guy I know told me he always thought he was smarter than that, but he’s now divorced and engaged to “the other woman”. How many people do you think intend to become alcoholics? Not many! They always think they have the power to stop, that they are the ones in control instead of the alcohol. Peter certainly never imagined he would deny Christ, yet he did. Three times! There is no sin on this earth that any of us are immune to, and pride is a sin that we all struggle with to some degree. ALL OF US. It’s insidious, and it manifests itself in so many different ways.

Proverbs 16:18 says “Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.” Don’t get me wrong here, I’m not saying we shouldn’t be proud of accomplishments, or reaching a goal. Not all pride is wrong. But when we deem ourselves above a certain sin – it’s wrong. When we judge someone because their sin was public and ours is private – it’s wrong. When we look down on others for the struggles they face that we don’t struggle with – it’s wrong.

Everyone wants to think that there are certain sins that they are above. We are ALL just a few wrong choices away from any given sin at any given time and it is ONLY by the grace of God that we don’t find ourselves in the very shoes of those we think we are better than. But even more importantly than that, if we do find ourselves in their shoes one day, it’s never too late for God to redeem your situation. Whether no one knows about your fall or thousands do… God is in the redemption business and He specializes in using broken, humbled people.

What will it take for us to be broken and humbled before Him? The realization that we are not better than anyone else. The realization that the very things we swear never to do often become the very things that we end up falling to. Will it take a public fall from grace before we repent of the sin of pride?

God, you know the areas in which I have suffered from pride in. You know the areas that I have fallen in that I never imagined I would. Help me Lord to always see the truth that I’m just a few wrong steps from falling into ANY sin, and that my job is not to judge but to love others as you do. Help me reflect more of you and less of me. Help me to think more about you and less about myself. Help me to recognize pride and repent from it. Help me draw closer to you daily and die to self, because I so often make myself my own god, and deem my desires above yours. Smash my pride, God, whatever the cost. In Jesus name, amen.