Conquering Pride

The Master has reached out and touched so many lives and changed them tremendously!  Have you ever talked to someone that quit smoking or drinking or eating certain things that were harmful to their health?  There are many things that people can do to help themselves and they do accomplish many things on their own.  

The more people master on their own, the more they think they don’t need anyone else and that includes the Lord.  Their theory is, if you put your mind to do something long enough and are determined enough, you will achieve it.  To be honest, many people have achieved many goals they have set out to conquer, which is a great thing.  One of the problems I see in achieving great things is that it can be instrumental in causing a negative, prideful attitude which usually is very unhealthy for you and is the cause of alienation from those around you that would like to befriend you but can’t because of an attitude that says, “I don’t need anyone else,” which comes from the prideful person.  

Is all pride bad?  I don’t think so, accomplishing things and doing a good job builds self-esteem and confidence in people and that is good for everyone as long as there is a balance.  There is a problem when a person loses the balance because many times they will get self-consumed, thinking that they are better than everyone else.  Proverbs 16:18 says this, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

I think the Lord hates pride because it keeps people from coming to Him for a personal relationship because they don’t think they need Him, thinking they can make it through life without anyone else.  This is the way I see it, everyone will worship something.  This ‘thing’ may be an object that was carved out of wood or welded out of metal or maybe they will idolize a person or something they possess or maybe it will be self-idolization or one of the things the Lord has created.  When we allow our flesh to rise up and control our lives, the end result will usually be some form of pride.  When we hold onto destructive pride, the Lord will resist us every time.  I heard this said years ago, “Pride stinks and the only one that doesn’t smell it is the one who has it”

James 4:6 says this, “But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’”

1 Peter 5:5 says this, “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’”

In the Old Testament there was a King named Asa and he was committed to the Lord; the Word says this about him in 2 Chronicles 15:16-18, “Also he removed Maachah, the mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah; and Asa cut down her obscene image, then crushed and burned it by the Brook Kidron. But the high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless the heart of Asa was loyal all his days. He also brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated and that he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils.”

There was a problem with King Asa in the later part of his reign because he seemed to have forgotten God and put his trust in another King.  

Read what it says in 2 Chronicles 16:7-10, “And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: ‘Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.’ Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time.”

Then it says this in verse 12, “And in the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his malady was severe; yet in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but the physicians.”

It doesn’t say it, but I think it was because of pride that King Asa didn’t seek the Lord for his healing.  I think man’s anger is also a breeding ground, so to speak, for pride.

There was another king in the Bible that had a real big problem with pride also; his name was Nebuchadnezzar, he was King of Babylon.  He was warned in a dream that Daniel had interpreted for him about a year before the consequences came about, but he didn’t listen and this is what happened.  It says this in Daniel 4:28-33, “All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke, saying, ‘Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?’

While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.’

That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.”

When the time was over, he regained his senses and in the end said this in verse 37 of that same chapter, “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.”          

God uses whatever method He chooses to humble people and, if you notice, this man wasn’t a believer at the time.  If you want to read the whole story check it out, read the first four chapters of the book of Daniel.  If this Tidbit spoke to you because you have a problem with destructive pride, confess it, repent and ask the Lord to forgive you and help you to be all that He wants you to be and then start doing your part to bring it to completion.  Something to think about!  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a great day!!