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 Various Scriptures

INTRODUCTION: Our message series is called, “Lord, I Have a Problem,” and we are looking at how God helps you with your problems. So far, we have looked at anger, envy, worry, depression and fear. Today we come to the problem of pride. (Read Proverbs 16:18 and pray.)

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Are you a proud person? Do you ever struggle with pride? It’s a trick question, so be careful how you answer! There’s an irony with pride where the proud person often thinks they’re humble, and the humble person often thinks they’re proud. As Jack Benny liked to say, “Modesty is one of my best qualities!” According to surveys, most people consider themselves above average! Think about that for a moment. Sometimes as high as 90% of the respondents considered themselves above average, which is, of course, impossible.

Today we are talking about the problem of pride, and it’s a big one for both Christians and non-Christians alike. John Stott writes: “At every stage of our Christian development and in every sphere of our Christian discipleship, pride is the greatest enemy and humility our greatest friend.”

I. The problem of pride

   A. God hates pride (Proverbs 16:5; James 4:6)

So, let’s talk about the problem of pride. The first and biggest problem with pride is that God hates it. There are not too many things the Bible says God hates, but God hates pride. Proverbs 16:5 says: “The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.” God not only hates pride, but he actively opposes it. The Bible tells us: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6).

The reason God hates pride is because the proud person tries to displace God. As Wayne Mack writes, “Pride consists in attributing to ourselves the honor, privileges, prerogatives, rights and power that are due to God alone…. Pride, at its core, is idolatry of self. A proud person has put himself or herself in God’s place.” Did you get that? Pride is when you try and take God’s place. Good luck with that. God will not share his glory with another. Therefore, God hates pride.

   B. Pride hates God (Psalm 10:4)

Not only does God hate pride, but pride hates God. Psalm 10:4 says about the proud person: “In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.” Pride has no room for God, because pride does not want to submit to God. Pride hates God, because pride thinks it can take God’s place.

Timothy Keller writes: “Spiritual pride is the illusion that we are competent to run our own lives.” Only God can run our lives, but pride seeks to displace God because we somehow think we can manage things better than God. As C.S. Lewis wrote: “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.” Those who are looking down all the time never look up to find God. Those are the first two problems with pride. God hates pride, and pride hates God.

   C. Pride forfeits wisdom from God (Psalm 25:9; Proverbs 26:12)

A third problem is that pride forfeits wisdom from God. Psalm 25:9 says: “God guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.” Now couple that with Proverbs 26:12: “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” Only the humble know God’s wisdom, because only the humble will receive God’s wisdom. The proud person doesn’t think they need help from God, and so they forfeit the wisdom that could be theirs.

   D. Pride always leads to a fall (Proverbs 16:18; Isaiah 2:12-17; 1 Corinthians 10:12)

And then finally, a big problem with pride is that pride always leads to a fall. Always! Every time! No exceptions! Proverbs 16:18 says: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Often that fall takes place in this life, but if not in this life, then certainly in the next. We read in Isaiah: “The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled) … The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day” (Isa. 2:12-17).

Charles Spurgeon said, “Every person has a choice between being humble or being humbled.” You can humble yourself or let God do it for you, which is why Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians: “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” (1 Cor. 10:12).

What’s the problem with pride? 1) God hates pride. 2) Pride hates God. 3) Pride forfeits wisdom from God. 4) Pride always leads to a fall. Every single time.

II. Understanding pride

Before we talk about how to deal with pride, let’s take a few moments to try and understand pride from a biblical perspective.

   A. Healthy pride:

First of all, there is such a thing as healthy pride. Pride is not always bad. The Bible says there is a proper place for boasting, and there is also a place for healthy pride in yourself.

      – boasting in the Lord (Jeremiah 9:23-24; 2 Corinthians 10:17)

The proper place for boasting is not in ourselves but in the Lord. We read in Jeremiah 9: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord” (Jer. 9:23-24). Or as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord” (2 Cor. 10:17). So, there is a place for boasting. Boast in the Lord! Do that as much as you like. No problem!

      – honest self-assessment (Romans 12:3; Galatians 6:3-4)

The Bible also talks about healthy pride in the sense of an honest self-assessment. Paul writes in Romans 12: “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment” (Rom. 12:3), that is, with a realistic self-assessment.

Or again in Galatians 6: “If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else” (Gal. 6:3-4).

The trick here is to take pride in yourself without comparing yourself to others. This is truly a self-assessment rather than a “self-and-others” assessment. And so, it is good and right when you have finished a project. and you have done a good job, to have a sense of satisfaction in your work. That is a healthy pride because it is based on honest self-assessment.

I like how C.J. Mahaney puts this. He writes: “Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness.” We need to keep both of those in mind. True humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. Timothy Keller calls this “the freedom of self-forgetfulness.” There is a wonderful freedom when you take the focus off yourself and put it on God and other people instead.

And so, as long as we keep our focus on God, we can take a healthy pride in our accomplishments, in our children, in our family. We don’t glorify God by minimizing the good gifts he has given us. As long as we are boasting in the Lord instead of ourselves, as long as we are giving God the glory and not taking the glory for ourselves, we can enjoy this healthy pride in life. We simply need to think of ourselves honestly in light of God’s word, and then we can take a healthy pride in all that God is doing in and through our lives.

   B. Wrongful pride – the first sin (Isaiah 14:12-15)

However, that is not the problem we are talking about this morning. We are talking about a wrongful pride that cuts us off from God and other people. This wrongful pride has rightly been called the first sin. Pride is the first sin because it was the very first sin committed, and it is the first sin because all other sins proceed from it.

Pride was the sin of the devil that caused him to rebel against God in the very beginning. We read in Isaiah 14: “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!… You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God…. I will make myself like the Most High’” (Isa. 14:12-15). That’s pride! Pride was the devil’s downfall, and it continues to be the downfall for so many today.

Pride was not only the first sin committed. It is the source of all other sins, which makes it the worst sin of all. John Stott writes: “Pride is more than the first of the deadly sins; it is itself the essence of all sin.” Or as Jonathan Edwards wrote: “Pride is the worst part of the body of sin and death, the first sin that ever entered into the universe and the last that is rooted out. It is God’s most stubborn enemy!”

   C. Pride leads to:

Pride leads to all other sins, but it particularly leads to the following five sins we all struggle with:

      1) Disobedience instead of submission (1 Samuel 15:23)

First of all, pride leads to disobedience instead of submission. We read in 1 Samuel 15: “For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king” (1 Sam.15:23). This was Samuel’s rebuke of Saul when Saul’s pride led him to rebel against God’s clear instructions. We need to understand that pride is rebellion at heart.

      2) Hypocrisy instead of authentic living (Proverbs 12:9; Matthew 23:5)

Secondly, pride leads to hypocrisy instead of authentic living. Jesus said about the Pharisees: “Everything they do is done for men to see” (Matt. 23:5). The Pharisees were not living authentically for God but putting on a show for men.

Pride makes us pretend. We don’t want people to think bad of us, so we pretend we are better than we are. But here’s the thing. All your pretending doesn’t make you any better. Proverbs 12:9 says: “Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food.” Who cares if everyone thinks you’re rich when you open up the refrigerator and the shelves are bare? It’s like lying about your gas mileage. It might make you look good in front of others, but it doesn’t help when you’re paying at the pump.

False humility falls under this category, too. You know what false humility is, right? It’s when someone pretends to be humble. You pay them a genuine compliment, and they say, “Oh, it was nothing!” Well, it wasn’t nothing. It was something. That’s why you’re paying them a compliment. That’s false humility. When someone pays you a compliment, the proper response is simply to say, “Thank you!” Henry Fairlie writes: “A false humility is no more to be praised than a false pride; depreciating oneself too much is as wrong as esteeming oneself too much.”

We need to let go of all pretense and just live genuine lives with each other. Did you mess up? Admit it! Are you bad at something? Don’t say you’re good at it! Are you good at something? Don’t say you’re bad at it! Relax, be genuine, be real. Learn to laugh at yourself—there’s no lack of material. You’re going to laugh about it someday, so why not start today? Don’t be a hypocrite. Pride leads to hypocrisy instead of authentic living.

      3) A judgmental spirit instead of love (1 Corinthians 8:1)

Thirdly, pride leads to a judgmental spirit instead of love. 1 Corinthians 8:1 says: “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” This is the problem of self-righteousness. R.T. Kendall writes: “Pride makes us feel worthy to judge another.” When you judge another, you are playing God. You are taking God’s place, and that is the very definition of pride. The Bible says you shouldn’t even judge yourself! Let God judge you, and let everything else go (1 Cor. 4:3-4).

You can’t love someone when you’re busy judging them, and you won’t judge them when you’re busy loving them. When someone is caught in a sin, you should take the attitude, “There but for the grace of God go I,” and then come alongside and help them in love.

      4) Boasting instead of meekness (Proverbs 27:2; 2 Corinthians 12:5-6)

Fourthly, pride leads to boasting instead of meekness. Proverbs 27:2 says: “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips.” The apostle Paul wrote: “I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain” (2 Cor. 12:5-6).

That means even if it’s true, even if you are the best at something, you shouldn’t be boasting about it! It seems we all feel this need to prove ourselves, and yet boasting never makes you look good anyway. As Chuck Swindoll writes: “The world’s smallest package is a man wrapped up in himself.”

      5) Isolation instead of community (Proverbs 13:10; Romans 12:16)

And then finally, pride leads to isolation instead of community. Proverbs 13:10 says: “Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.” Romans 12:16 says: “Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.”

Pride isolates us from other people. Henry Fairlie writes: “The proud man sets himself up and, in doing so, sets himself apart…To imagine that one does not need community with others is a terrible form of pride.”

What have learned about pride so far? Pride is the root and the essence of all sin. Pride leads to disobedience instead of submission, to hypocrisy instead of authentic living, to a judgmental spirit instead of love, to boasting instead of meekness and to isolation instead of community. In other words, pride is a big problem. We need to understand what a big problem this is in our lives.

III. Dealing with pride

So how do we deal with pride? Let me share with you eight things from God’s word that will help you deal with this problem of pride in your life.

   A. Confess your sin to God (Job 42:5-6; Isaiah 6:5)

Number one: confess your sin to God. Pride is not just a problem; it is a sin. It’s the worst sin. If pride is independence and rebellion from God, then the first step back is confession. In Scripture anytime someone gets close to God, they immediately confess their sin. It’s automatic. When Job encountered God, he responded: “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6). When Isaiah saw God in a vision, he cried out: “Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (Isa. 6:5).

Dr. William Plumer writes: “No man ever thought himself a greater sinner before God than he really was…. He who sees no sin in himself will feel no need of a Savior.” Andrew Murray wrote: “It is pride that made redemption needful; it is from our pride we need above everything else to be redeemed.” That’s the first thing you need to do. Confess your sin to God.

   B. Consider the cross (Galatians 6:14)

Number two: consider the cross. The apostle Paul wrote: “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal. 6:14).

There is no room for any other boasting at the cross. D. Martyn Lloyd Jones writes: “There is only one thing I know of that crushes me to the ground and humiliates me to the dust, and that is to look at the Son of God and especially contemplate the cross.” John Stott writes: “Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to be saying to us, ‘I am here because of you.’… Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross.”

Around Easter we often sing the hymn: “When I survey the wondrous cross / on which the Prince of glory died, / my richest gain I count but loss, / and pour contempt on all my pride.” Perhaps we should sing it more often throughout the year.

   C. Consider your salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Number three: consider your salvation. Ephesians 2 says: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). You are saved not by anything you have done, but simply by God’s grace. God’s love for you is not based on your performance, but on his nature and on Christ’s finished work on the cross.

Consider your salvation. The Bible says you did not choose God; God chose you! As Charles Spurgeon wrote: “I believe in the doctrine of election because I am quite certain that, if God had not chosen me, I should never have chosen Him; and I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterwards; and He must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why He should have looked upon me with special love.”

Do want to be humbled instead of proud? Consider your salvation. It’s all of God. It’s all by God’s grace. You didn’t choose God. God chose you.

   D. Give God the glory (Genesis 41:16; 2 Corinthians 3:5)

Number four: give God the glory. When Joseph came to Pharaoh to interpret his dream, he claimed no credit for himself. “‘I cannot do it,’ Joseph replied to Pharaoh, ‘but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires’” (Gen. 41:16). Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God” (2 Cor. 3:5). Everything good you have in your life comes from God. So, make sure you give God the glory.

   E. Submit to God’s Word (Isaiah 66:2; 1 Timothy 6:3-4)

Number five: submit to God’s word. God says in Isaiah 66:2: “This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.” Or we read in 1 Timothy: “If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing” (1 Tim. 6:3-4).

Rejecting God’s word outright, picking and choosing from God’s word according to our preferences, re-interpreting God’s word to fit the times—these are all evidence of sinful pride which elevate man’s authority over God’s authority. Do you want to deal with pride in your life? Submit to God’s word.

   F. Be thankful for God’s gifts (2 Samuel 7:18; 1 Corinthians 4:7)

Number six: be thankful for God’s gifts. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?” (1 Cor. 4:7). King David was a good example of this kind of humility when he prayed to God: “Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?” (2 Sam. 7:18). Don’t claim anything for yourself but rather receive all things with thanksgiving from God.

   G. Honor others before yourself (Romans 12:10; Philippians 2:3)

Number seven: honor others before yourself. Romans 12:10 says, “Honor one another above yourselves,” and Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” (Phil. 2:3).

This is a tough one. This is where we find out if we are truly dealing with the pride in our lives. Andrew Murray writes: “It is easy to think we humble ourselves before God: humility towards men will be the only sufficient proof that our humility before God is real … Humility before God is nothing if not proved in humility before men.” That’s why the Bible talks about honoring one another, being servants of one another, submitting yourselves to one another, considering others better than yourself.

President Harry Truman once said, “You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind who gets the credit.” As Christians we should rejoice when God exalts others instead of us. Dave Harvey writes: “One great measure of our humility is whether we can be ambitious for someone else’s agenda…. Our willingness to make others a success is a great measure of the purity of our ambitions.” Timothy Keller defines humility as: “For it not to matter whether it was their success or your success. Not to care if they did it or you did it. You are as happy that they did it as if you had done it yourself.” That’s the seventh way you can deal with pride in your life. Make it a habit, make it a pattern of honoring others before yourself.

   H. Grow in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)
      – especially love (1 Corinthians 13:4)

And then finally, grow in the fruit of the Spirit, especially love. If there’s one fruit of the Spirit that will knock pride out of your life, it is love. Love cares about others; pride cares about self. 1 Corinthians 13:4 reminds us: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.”

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Some helpful resources for dealing with pride:

Descending Into Greatness, by Bill Hybels, Rob Wilkins

The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness, by Timothy Keller

From Pride to Humility: A Biblical Perspective, by Stuart Scott

Gospel-Powered Humility, by William Farley

Humility, by Andrew Murray

Humility: The Forgotten Virtue, by Wayne A. Mack

Humility: True Greatness, by C.J. Mahaney

The Power of Humility, by R.T. Kendall

The prideful soul’s guide to humility, by Thomas Jones and Michael Fontenot

Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate, by Jerry Bridges

The Seven Deadly Sins Today, by Henry Fairlie

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© Ray Fowler

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