Pride costs more than a person may think. When speaking about pride, Jesus made mention of a person choosing the best seat in the house for supper. What if the owner of the house were to come and remove you from that place of honor? Instead of thinking highly of oneself, we should allow others to bestow honor on us and not take the honor because we think we deserve it.
"When swelling and pride come, then emptiness and shame come also; but with the humble - those who are lowly, [who have been pruned and chiseled by trial] and renounce self - is skillful and godly Wisdom and soundness." Proverbs 11:2, Amplified
Pride comes in many different forms. The most common is when a person thinks more highly of himself than he ought. Pride is like the yeast in a lump of dough. Let us, for the sake of argument, say that the lump is 16 ounces. If yeast is added to the lump, it will grow to two or three times its original size. No matter how big that lump gets, however, it will still only weigh 16 ounces. Pride does the same for the human, it causes them to look bigger than they really are. This pride causes missteps in a persons walk and they soon begin to make decisions that are bigger than their britches.
However, with the humble it is different. The humble man thinks less of himself than the prideful man. This is not a self pity though. It is a sound understanding that we are deserving of nothing but Hell. The humble man will allow for himself to be sat in the greater seat, but he will not allow that luxury to rule his being. Humility of the heart is a place where the person understands his circumstances and takes nothing more than what is given to him. This humbleness allows for the saving grace of the blood of Jesus to do its work in a life, whereas pride can do everything on its own. Humbleness asks for help, reaches out for help, understands depravity, and is grateful when that help comes. Pride needs no one else, therefore when the most help is needed, success will be replaced by shame.
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