Pride and Humility 2 (Proverbs 18:12)

I love the dichotomies of the Bible. Her is yet another one dealing with pride and humility.

"Haughtiness comes before disaster, and humility before honor." Proverbs 18:12, Amplified

Haughtiness is an archaic word pertaining to pride. Pride will always precede disaster. The captain of the Titanic was a very prideful person who was warned about the possible dangers. Instead of heeding to the advice of less distinguished persons, he proceeded the way he felt best. What happened next is a piece of tragic history that everyone one knows about.

When it comes to pride, it becomes a sin when it eclipses everyone around you as well as the Lord. I am proud of my kids. I am also proud of certain achievements in my life. However, my focus is not diverted from the Lord. I still have a clear understanding of who He is in my life.

The second part of this verse deals with humility. If we are to humble ourselves, then we will be honored. Jesus Himself stated, "When you are invited by anyone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in the best place, lest anyone more honorable than you be invited by him; and he who invited you and him come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher.' Then you will give glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 14:8-11, NKJV)

Pride and humility are the antithesis of each other. If you are one, you cannot be the other. The throne of the heart has room for one king. Is it you or Jesus?

The Results of Sin (Proverbs 17:19)

Shakespeare wrote, "Love is a many splendored thing." But is love really love when it is not pure? Can love be love when it involves sin?

"He who loves strife and is quarrelsome loves transgression and involves himself in guilt; he who raises high his gateway and is boastful and arrogant invites destruction." Proverbs 17:19, Amplified

We will break this verse down in its two parts. If you read the New King James you will find that "strife" and "transgression" are actually switched. It is my belief that in either context the verse remains true to itself. You can either love sin (transgression) and invite strife or you can love strife and invite sin. But it is not even inviting, the Bible says that if you love one then you love the other. So in essence, if one loves sin then he is out of the will of God and therefore strife in inevitable. And in the other instance, if one love strife (which opposes the fruit of the Spirit) then sin is sure to follow. There is a union between the two. If you love one, then you will love the other.

In the second part of the verse, we see pride. The gateway being alluded to here is the gateway to a city where the elders of the city would sit and become judges for quarrels. So what this verse is alluding to is making oneself seem more than what he truly is. After being spared his life, King Hezekiah exalted his own gate Babylonian envoys. He took Berodach-Baladan into the treasure houses of the kingdom. "And Hezekiah was attentive to them, and showed them all the house of his treasure - the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory - all that was found among his treasure. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion the Hezekiah did not show them." (Second Kings 20:13, NKJV) You see, Hezekiah was given a death sentence from Isaiah the prophet. After Isaiah had left, Hezekiah lifted his voice to the Lord, and before Isaiah could leave the Lord sent him back into the king. The Lord had granted Hezekiah a longer life. Hezekiah became prideful and arrogant and opened himself to the enemy and Isaiah soon returned to the king with a message of destruction and the captivity of Babylon.

Pride and Humility (Proverbs 16:18-19)

Pride is the antithesis of the Christian spirit. Pride allows no room for anyone else including Jesus Christ. Pride has destroyed many people and I fear that it is far from finished for pride has a voracious appetite.

"Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." Proverbs 16:18, Amplified

This has to be one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible. I have always heard that pride goes before the fall, but no, it is the haughty spirit that brings about the fall. Haughtiness is very similar to pride, but is in itself an entirely different beast. It is defined by Webster's as arrogance.

This haughtiness reminds me of another person in the Bible: Lucifer. In Isaiah we get a glimpse as to why he fell. "For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.'" (Isaiah 14:13-14, NKJV) "I will's" leave no room for "we can's".

When we exalt ourselves, be sure that a fall is coming. Pride and arrogance are twin sisters whose soul purpose is to bring men (and women) down.

"Better it is to be of a humble spirit with the meek and the poor, than to divide the spoil with the proud." Proverbs 16:19, Amplified

It is far better to be humble than proud. Jesus spoke many different times on this very same subject. Pride leaves us rigid and breakable. Humility leaves us soft an moldable. "The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying: 'Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.' Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, at it seemed good to the potter to make. Then he word of the Lord came to me, saying: 'O house of Israel, can I not do with you as the potter?' says the Lord. 'Look, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so you are in My hand, O house of Israel!'" (Jeremiah 18:1-6, NKJV)

An unfinished pot can constantly be reshaped and reformed in to another vessel. Water can always be added to the clay to keep it pliable. God is not finished with the earthen vessel that writes this devotion. I am not ready for the kiln till He says that I am finished. When will that be? I do not know. But until then I want to remain pliable and workable.

All Consuming Pride (Proverbs 16:5)

No one will ever be able to stand against the Lord. Many have chosen to defy Him throughout the centuries, but all have failed. Pride is the killer of many.

"Everyone proud and arrogant in heart is disgusting, hateful and exceedingly offensive to the Lord; be assured - I pledge it - he will not go unpunished." Proverbs 16:5, Amplified

Pride can take many different sizes and shapes. Take for instance, self pity. Self pity is a hidden form of pride. Remember, pride is not how highly one thinks of himself, rather it is how often he thinks of himself.

As we think about ourselves more and more there is no more room for other people, nor is there room for the Lord. How is one to watch after the orphans and the widows if he is consumed with self? No praise can be given to a Savior, for pride deludes us into thinking that we are the highest and mightiest beings in our lives.

Pride will allow us to reap the reward of punishment, however. If we think only of ourselves, then we too must become the end all of everything in our lives. We must be the savior. deliverer, rewarder, provider for ourselves. What could the punishment be for this particular mindset? I do not know, however I do not want to find out. There have been many different men who have proven themselves prideful and answered to the Lord on different occasions and in different ways. Ahithophel was King David's closest friend but was for Absolom. In the end, Ahithophel killed himself. Cain ended up a wanderer and a nomad in the world after rising against his brother and killing him. Both of these examples are of self pity (because remember that pride is not how high but how much). But here is a final example of pride. "Now Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon; but they came to him with one accord, and having made Blastus the king's personal aide their friend, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food by the king's country. So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an oration tot hem. And the people kept shouting, 'The voice of a god and not a man!' Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God grew and multiplied." (Acts 12:20-24, NKJV)

Pride will consume everything it touches, even you. Pride does not care about your pedigree or nationality. Pride is an unsatisfied force in the lives of human beings. Do not allow it a foothold in your heart.

Looking Out for the Widow (Proverbs 15:25)

We, as Christians, are called to look after the orphans and the widows for they have no one to look after them.

"The Lord tears down the house of the proud, but He makes secure the boundaries of the [consecrated] widow." Proverbs 15:25, Amplified

The Lord has called us as Christians to look after the orphan and the widow. It is not a suggestion, it is commanded, "Pure and undefiled religion is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and keep oneself unspotted from the world." (James 1:27, NKJV) If we do not live up to what the Lord expects us to do, then He will do as He feels best. (I am not saying that we have the ability to live up to what the Lord asks, rather I am speaking of the choices and effort that we make to do those things that the Lord commands.) If he cannot find anyone who is faithful, He will taker matters into His own hands. When the Lord returns, what will He find us doing? Will we be the representation of Christ that He wants us to be? Or will our house be like that of the proud, ready to tear down? The Lord is faithful to those who do not have the strength within themselves. He is the strength for the weak. He is the hope for the hopeless.

Pride (Proverbs 13:10)

Pride is one of those ugly things in life that can creep up on a person and soon consume him.

"By pride and insolence comes only contention, but with the well-advised is skillful and godly Wisdom." Proverbs 13:10, Amplified

Pride is that thing in life that tries to convince us that we are the best. I am not talking about a collective we, I am talking about only me. You see, pride tries to tell us that it is only myself that is great. There is no room for anyone else, besides myself, at the pinnacle of pride. This is where the contention comes in, everyone fights for the number one spot. When pride is involved, the Lord is not.

it is interesting that the second half of the verse speaks of the "well-advised". Parents, teachers and other authority figures need to help mold the mind of the younger generation. Teach them that the individual is not the important piece, rather it is about the collective. Godly wisdom teaches us that the most important thing in the world is not ourself, but it is the Lord first then others around us. Pride leaves no room for anyone else; godly wisdom envelops everyone around us. I heard it once said that true joy is this: "J"esus "O"thers and "Y"ou.

The Cost of Pride (Proverbs 11:2)

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.