Who has more pride, the professional sports athlete who is at the top of his game, or the librarian, who knows where virtually every book is in the library. Whose pride, whose self-esteem, which is in part what pride is, is destroyed the most, that same athlete who suffers a career ending injury, or the young child who was the only one not able to accomplish the task that the rest of the class has quite easily finished.
We don’t always need others around us to extoll us in our accomplishments, although it can be quite gratifying, we are able to either lift ourselves up or denigrate ourselves without others assisting us. When a person is hired to perform a task for either an individual or a large corporation, the first thing they are concerned with is the skill sets that you possess, are you able to perform those tasks that are set before you for the betterment and enrichment of your employer, but another item that is always present, albeit most generally beneath the surface, are your convictions, who are you beyond your abilities. Many times these institutions have yearly evaluations, and one of the points they discuss is your attitude, the reflections of who you are outside of your skill sets you possess, what they perceive to be your feelings. Few who show little enthusiasm for what they do are retained, the level of pride that they take in what they do is now just as relevant towards their employment field, no matter how well you perform the deeds required of you, you possess little value to the endeavors’ that the company is trying to achieve.
Pride will either build you up or destroy you, it knows no middle ground, you are either assured in your capabilities or you doubt them, and my friends, when it comes to the supposed needs of the world, the sooner you doubt them, the better. The fastest man in Olympic competitions is more than likely not the fastest man in the world, he is only the fastest in the group of individuals that entered the contest, those who attempted to show themselves as such. The fastest man in the world at this moment is probably living what most would consider an average, dull life, going out and enjoying a run occasionally. There is always someone quicker, someone smarter, someone stronger, pride is fleeting, and all who seek it will lose it long before they face their Maker.
The knowledge that God is Sovereign removes all possibility of pride, it can find no place to stand in the presence of Almighty God, and the sooner we come to the realization of this, the sooner we will be freed from the bondage of it in all its forms. As stated earlier, pride loves it when it is noticed, it is increased exponentially when it is recognized, and so competition is its greatest ally and foe, whether it be in the arena or the personal life, without recognition, pride can find no ground to stand on. Pride at its most basest root is the desire to be worshipped. pride says, “I will,” “I can,” pride is self-esteem, its brothers are envy, lust, and jealousy, competition is its closest kinsman, and it is abhorrent and evil in the eyes of God. Pride must be compared to something, and the best way, in fact the only way to refute it is humility.
To recognize that all our talents and gifts come from God is to know humility, to come to the realization that we could not even exist without Him, is to kill pride, and if those thoughts are still too difficult for you, then from now on do not think “What would Jesus do,” but run these words through your mind instead “I am better than Jesus Christ.” Did that knock you back for just a moment there? You might as well think that way if you still have any pride in you, pride needs to be first, it needs to be best, it seeks competition either externally or internally, it desires to be judged as better than others, so why not set the highest possible challenge you can find, be as God Himself.
No my friends, there is no need to reference Satan and his “I will” statement found in Isaiah 14:14, if you have any pride in you whatsoever, you are categorized right alongside him, pride says I don’t need God. “Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” (Romans 9:20) None of us are any better than anyone out there in the human realm, you will live, then you will die, and if you are not saved by the grace of God, then not even your name is going to be remembered, (Eccl. 9:5) much less your deeds. Everything that you have accomplished will be of absolutely no value, it is the one thing that you did not do that will matter, that will count against you on that final day.
I was the world’s fastest runner, I was one of the most knowledgeable and wisest men alive, I led a church of thousands, did we not cast out demons in your name? (Matt. 7:22)
Pride lifts up only the living, there is no pride of any form in either heaven or hell. Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, (Rev. 19:16) all come after Him, He knows no challenger, no competition, He is God Almighty, He is humility itself. Pride is not a state of mind that assists us in bettering ourselves, it is not an encouraging factor in our lives that helps us to be all we can be, it is a sin, it does not matter what form it takes. “Til iniquity was found in thee.” (Eze. 28:15) Without Christ, you will die in your sins, and one of the main reasons will be your refusal to accept Jesus Christ as Lord because of your pride. It is the first recorded sin in the Scriptures, (Eze. 28:12-18) and because of Adam’s sin, pride rests firmly in every single man or woman who has ever been born on this planet.
We like to say we “Take pride in,” I would suggest this to you, start saying, “I have lost pride in.” “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.” (Prov. 18:12) Humility can only be formed in the heart of a man who has acknowledged that God alone is Sovereign, that Jesus Christ is Lord. Compare yourself to Christ and you will lose every time, become Christlike in every attribute of your life, and pride will flee from you, pride will die, and you will live. Our value and worth my friends can only be found in Jesus Christ. “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” (Prov. 16:18)
