pride, you don't want anything to do with it...

Make no mistake about it, pride is a great sin…maybe the greatest.  So much so that it is said to be “hated” by God biblically.  Pride can be summarized as an attitude of self-sufficiency, self-importance and self-exaltation in relation to God and an attitude of contempt and indifference to those around us.  The desire to lift up and exalt ourselves beyond our place as God’s “creature” lies at the very heart of pride.  In fact, it was pride that that caused Lucifer to be thrown out of heaven.  Yes, that is how the devil became the devil, when he desired to exalt himself to the same level of God.  Thus, pride is one of the most destructive tools the devil has to steer us away from the light.  For when we are tempted by our own desires, self-worth, and thinking we can do it all on our own, our center of gravity shifts away from God and more and more onto ourselves.  How did that work from Adam and Eve?  They too were cast out of a perfect place due to their “prideful” desires.  Proverbs 16:5, “The Lord detests the proud; they will surely be punished” (and all were punished accordingly).  Also, “Pride goes before destruction”, Proverbs 16:18, so we MUST not tolerate it in our lives as pride can lead to our undoing.

If we think too much of ourselves, we’ll tend to also look down on those around us.  Galatians 6:3, " If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important.’ and Proverbs 26:12, “There is more hope for fools than for people who think they are wise.”  We must not let our knowledge, money, or success cloud our judgement into thinking that we did all these things on our own.  We need to be constantly vigilant in placing our accomplishments at God’s feet "and" only using them to promote His glory.  Always remember, they were possible ONLY through His loving mercies versus anything we “think” we did to achieve them.  Think about the Philadelphia Eagles upon winning the Super Bowl.  Outside of the vast number of players who gave God all the glory, their head coach’s, Doug Pedersen, very first words were thanking his “Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” when asked about their victory…AMEN!  Now, THAT kind of boasting is good with God.  2 Corinthians 10:17, “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” and Jeremiah 9:24, “but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have an understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord.  So, sincerely pray to help God remove our tendencies to be prideful in our daily lives, and when we are blessed with successes, that we place the glory where it belongs…with HIM!