Devotionals

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Proverbs 3:33-34 The Lord’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the righteous. He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.

Solomon in all of his wisdom often warns us about the dangers of having a prideful mindset and heart. Whether pride is willingly invited into our hearts or inadvertently spewed through the canals of ignorance; the end result remains the same because we are held accountable for our actions via free will as referenced in the Bible. The Book of Proverbs declares in Chapter 11:2 that When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. And in Chapter 16:18, Pride goes before destruction; and a haughty spirit before a fall.

It is through pride that opens the gates for a multitude of other sins to ensue; specifically in the form of envy, anger, possessiveness, conceit and a condescending competitive nature just to name a few.

If we take the time to analyze the origin of pride we will discover it is derived from the onset of Satan’s quest to become greater than God; a failed feat which will never materialized no matter how hard he continues to accomplish this quest; as was the case in the past as well as in modern day times. Unfortunately this evil adversary of God is also the culprit who brought the sinfulness of pride to the first created man and woman by tempting them to partake of the forbidden fruit off the Tree of Good and Evil (Genesis 3:1-6).

That old serpent allowed pride to overtake him from the very start as his delusional belief of being greater than God manifested through his actions:

Isaiah 14:12-15 How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! 13 You said in your heart, I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. 14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. 15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.

It has been my experience that the most prideful people are usually arrogant narcissists who tend to think only of themselves rather than the well being of others. If only they would step out of their private world of self-importance to discover just how little effort it takes to express a kind word, or to offer a helping hand to a neighbor, friend, family member or better yet a hopeless stranger who aimlessly roams their neighborhood.

I believe the more time we take to focus on others will become less time we have to focus on our own selfish desires. The opposite of pride is humility and the only cost of obtaining it is to have a generous and loving spirit toward our fellowman; as we learn to remove the words “I,” and “Me” from our vocabularies. God expects us to value others more importantly than ourselves as inferred in the following scriptures:

Philippians 2:3-4~Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. 4 Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well.

In a world as corrupt as ours it would be a breath of fresh air if people were willing to drop their prideful attitude and actually learn to care for the needs and happiness of others. However, that is not the prevalent norm in today’s society as people are angry, hurried and just plain rude for the most part. They appear to exist in their own private zone of hatred and apathy viewing others as less than.

I was always taught that I am not better than the next person, but I am just as good, meaning that we are all equal in the sight of God, deserving of mutual love and respect. There comes a time when we need to examine our own heart to determine if it stems from a place of pride or humility. God gives grace to those of us who are faithful enough to serve Him and others with a spirit of humility; as revealed in the following scripture:

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

After more than fifty years of living upon this earth, I have learned to search God’s Word on a daily basis to achieve acceptable behavior based on His standards; however that was not always my main focus. There were many occasions where I could hear my voice bragging about one thing or another, whether it was a new car, new house, new jewelry, or even boasting of all my acts of kindness displayed toward humanity. Whatever the case may have been, I was actually complacent in my mindless need to brag.

The same held true for engaging in debates, always wanting to be right regardless of the facts and/or opinions of my opponents. Well, over the years I learned that often times, I am wrong in various types of scenarios and there is not one thing wrong with being wrong and having the courage to admit it. For the most part a prideful spirit has to learn how to concede to a state of error and move onward in meekness and new found wisdom.

Proverbs 13:10 With pride comes only contention, but wisdom is with the well-advised.

A proud heart is also guilty of harboring grudges rather than exhibiting a spirit of goodwill and forgiveness. I guess for the majority of people it is much easier to complain and stay in their bitterness with an unrelenting ability to let go and let God. Little do most realize that forgiveness will benefit the person doing the forgiving more so than the one in need of it.

Just think where we all would be if God chose to not sacrifice His Son, Jesus Christ to the Cross for the forgiveness and salvation of our sins. If ever there was a time which warranted a proud spirit it would be the living Son of God; but instead of coming to this world with a puffed up disposition, Christ chose to humble Himself to the lowliest point of servitude by washing His disciples’ feet. I wonder how many of us would do that in this day and age.

I often hear of people talking about wanting to live in a better world, but who are not willing to put forth an effort to make it a better dwelling place. People get so caught up in their own lustful ambitions, concerned only with what satisfies their urges. Some may believe they are on top of the world while lavishing in their worldly possessions with their noses in the air looking down on those less fortunate. Some believe that the world revolves around them and only them.

However, whatever false beliefs and/or feelings of grandeur which hide in the trenches of the prideful will one day crash and burn. We are all servants of the one true God Almighty; Creator of all things and of all people. Having this knowledge should knock the many proud spirits off their high horses so they could learn their place in life and seek to fulfill the purpose that God ordained instead of relying on their own weakness in the guise of pride.

Psalms 10:4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

I pray for this world of lost souls as they travel in a space of false hope with puffed up egos and prideful blindness. I pray that they may stumble across the Gospel of Truth spoken in the eternal powerful Word of our Heavenly Father. I pray that the wicked lusts of their proud spirits are transformed and replaced with grace and humility, in the precious Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior! I hope for peace, joy, faith, humility and love to cover all who are reading and willing to grow from this devotional.

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