The Problem with Pride

Isaiah 14:13-14, "You have said in your heart, 'I will ascend unto heaven, I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit enthroned on the mount of the assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'"

When we think of original sin, we most often go to the garden at Eden, and Adam and Eve. Eve is deceived and eats of the forbidden "tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Adam then chooses to join her in the transgression. But original sin occurred long before this, in the glories of heaven. It was here in eternity past that Satan, as described in these verses from Isaiah, decided in his heart that he would be God. Satan's sin, pride. And if we take a long look at most sins in our lives, pride can be found at the root of them all.

Pride is simply defined for the Christian as ourselves and our wants coming before God and others. What Jesus calls the greatest commandment instructs us to "love the Lord God with all of your heart, and all of your soul, and all of your mind, and all of your strength, and to love others as yourself." When pride enters the picture we come first. What we want matters most, and the things of God are shuttled to the side. When we have this attitude, we are just like Satan. We place ourselves above God and others. God's order of priority is Him, others, us. When we are prideful, we come first, and we make ourselves an idol. We take the place of God.

The bible tells us in Proverbs 11:2, "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." Pride closes our minds to the things and ways of God. It is the root of selfishness, a lack of love, unforgiveness and the desire to be served instead of being a servant. Whenever we believe we are entitled to something simply because of who we are, we are behaving pridefully. If we look at things and we have a my way or the highway attitude, we are guilty of pride. As a Christian, its is not our call to do things our way, or even our churches way, but rather, to do it God's way. When we look at any decision or situation, our question must always be 'what would God want here." Not what I want.

I am convinced that everyone on some level deals with the pride problem. We all have areas of our life where we are vulnerable to the same temptations Satan was. But as a child of God, with the power of the Holy Spirit within us, if we are truly seeking God's will, our prideful ways will be revealed so that we can repent. If we spend the time we should in God's word, God's will is almost always revealed. If we seek His face in prayer in a humble spirit, not giving Him a list of the things we want, He will speak to us through that same Holy Spirit, who will convict us of our sin.

The bible tells us "God detests the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Do we want His grace, or His scorn. If we desire His grace, we must come to Him as He says, and our lives should reflect His order; Him, others, us. Unless that is our mind and heartset, pride has entered our life. In Isaiah 14:15 we see the result of Satan's pride, "But you are brought down to Sheol(the grave), to the depths of the pit." Satan would not repent of his sin of pride, will we? We must ask ourselves one simple question: Is my focus on myself, or God's kingdom? It we want what we want no matter what, pride has overtaken us.