Pride. The Mind Killer.

Morning!

Raises his cup of coffee

Pride.

This is what’s on my mind this morning and it is the humbling of Nebuchadnezzar that we are studying.  For Christians, pride is one of those things that we try to avoid.  To say we try to avoid it is an understatement.  I think it would be more accurate to say the Christian hates pride and if we do not hate pride now, we will most likely come to hate pride at some point in our lives as part of Sanctification is learning to love what God Loves and hate what God hates.  The more pride we ourselves have, the further puffed up we become.  The more puffed up we become, the less we listen.  The less we listen the less we abide in the Love of Jesus and instead replace it with a love of ourselves and that is death to the Christian.

And pride creeps.

Daniel 4: 37

“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice.  And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.”

King Nebuchadnezzar thought his pride was justified.  He was proven wrong.  And as madness left him and he was restored to glory, so he confessed the LORD.

Romans 12: 1-3

“I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.  For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”

There is confidence and then there is pride.  I think the two terms have become somewhat confused in our language at the moment.  As I was preparing for this morning’s post I thought it would be interesting to look at the definition of pride to reflect on it better.  I submit the definition for your review.

Pride: (noun)

- The quality or state of being proud; reasonable self-esteem: confidence and satisfaction in oneself: self-respect.  (This is the opener.)

- Pleasure that comes from some relationship, association, achievement, or possession that is seen as a source of honor, respect etc.

(Let’s keep digging…)

- Exaggerated self-esteem: Conceit

(There we are.  There are several other uses of the word, one of which is a group of lions, but I think we’ve got enough to work with here.)

Proverbs 16: 5

“Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; though they join forces, none will go unpunished.”

We have landed on a term in our study today that has been somewhat confused around us.  When I’ve come across a term that seems somewhat mysterious or different from what I’m used to, I make sure that I read a little more Scripture to see how the word is used.  I look at the context in the sentence and I look at the context of the passage that I am reading.  Here’s a small sampling of writings on pride.

Proverbs 15: 25

“The LORD will destroy the house of the proud, but He will establish the boundary of the widow.”

The proverbs on the topic are numerous.

The stories on the topic are numerous.

Proverbs 6: 16-19

“These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.”

In context of our study, pride is exaggerated self-esteem.  It is seeing oneself as more than we are.  For who do we have to compare ourselves to in order to have an understanding of who and what we are except the God of the Universe.  The Namer of the stars.  The King of kings and Lord of lords.  And what are we compared to Him?

But our Lord is merciful and our Lord lifts up the meek.  He brings sight to the blind and salvation to the damned.  He is Just and He is Right.  All His testimonies are True.  All things that were made were made through Him and by Him for Him.  What is Good is Good because it was made Good by Him.

God the Provider.

God the Healer.

God the Restorer.

Where does that put us?

James 4: 10

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

What are the things that puff us up?

What are the things that lead us to the works of the flesh?

Galatians 5: 19-21

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

For those of us that live by The Spirit, we are to walk in The Spirit and the fruits of The Spirit are:

Galatians 5: 22-23

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such there is no law.”

I might mention at the end of our study here that there is an important part of Romans 12 that might have been overlooked by us.  There is a reason we turn our bodies over to Jesus and renew our minds in Christ.  That we are to prove what is that good an acceptable and perfect Will of God.  We seek righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ for the purpose of proving God.

Something to think about today.

Happy waiting!

:)