It was Pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.– St. Augustine
What is pride? Is it a character trait, a personality flaw or something more? Well the Bible says it’s a sin, but why? Because it separates us from God with the same notion that Lucifer got cast out of Heaven for – I can do this without God, in fact I can do it better than God, come worship me.
Give me glory for my looks. Give me glory for my mind. Give me glory for my success. Give me glory for my talents. Give me glory for my life, my ideas, my beliefs….
Come…give me glory…all ye people look upon me and behold my greatness…we yell from our social media accounts, our professional circles, even from our pulpits! Have we forgotten that we are just functioning clumps of dirt and all that makes us special is that we are created in the image of God – to bring him glory – not ourselves. That it is God alone that brings forth the abundance from the dirt, it is by him there is any increase in what we are at all. Without God we are just useless clumps of dirt, a barren field, devoid of any true fruit.
A little dramatic, perhaps, but also very true. Pride is a sin and it leads down the path that lead to Satans banishment. Right now you can buy pride in the form of several new age awareness techniques available online or in bookstores world wide. These strategies teach you to harness your own energy and to plot your life using your intention as the wind within your sails. I have seen several well known celebrities take the stage and endorse this doctrine of self creation using your mind to create the world you want. You can have money, success or the life of your dreams without God – you are god. This is not of a God.
Thomas Aquinas said of Pride “inordinate self-love is the cause of every sin…the root of pride is found to consist in man not being, in some way, subject to God and His rule.”
Christians may say to themselves well I know that’s wrong, I’d never do that. Let me ask you brothers and sisters isn’t it just as deadly to taste a drop of arsenic as it is to drink the whole bottle? “I think, I feel, I want” often supersede in our daily life what God thinks, feels and wants for us. Is this not pride? Is this not us determining that our will is better than that of Gods and that we know best? True humility comes when we submit ourselves wholly as Christ did in the Garden saying “your will not my own be done.” Jesus submitted to death unto Gods Will. Are we willing to do the same?
Is this not our daily cross? Dying every day to our own “I think, I feel, I want” – crucifying our pride daily in subordinate humility to Gods thoughts, feelings and wants – His Perfect Will.
The new school effort in the world is to glorify ourselves. To teach great abundance in the self-esteem area and inflict a drought in the area of humility and submission to God. People are building a multi-billion dollar industry on this sense of “healthy self-esteem” – I affirm that the ONLY healthy sense of self-esteem is found at the foot of the cross where you come to the deep awareness that without Christ you are nothing.
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” – 1 Peter 5:5
Pride in anything that you are is vanity. God gave you the mind you have, who are you to boast, for what did you have to do with its creation? God gave you the very life you use to parade around and profess your superiority of being to others, who are you to boast of anything, for God knew you before he formed you in the womb according to the Bible. You neither formed yourself nor could you predestined your self to go unto the world and be anything of any real importance without Gods grace and intervention.God did all of that – so who are we to boast of anything?
James 4:6 – “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”
James 4:10 – “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
Our thoughts, feelings, and wants inborn to our natural man only serve to separate us from God. Satans temptation to Eve, is the same as it is to us today, do this and you shall be like God. This is the essence of pride. Take note that the opposite of pride is humility. A humble spirit is one that submits to Gods will above his own desires in ALL his ways, not just a few. To be truly humble we must bring all the “I thinks, I feels, I wants” and put them at the foot of the cross. It is only in absolute submission to Gods will and true faith in his holiness as the One True God that we can do this. This is to give him the glory that he is due, when we hold back bits and pieces of our pride, we keep glory for ourselves and deny him his full share.
Perhaps the entire idea of pride and humility is best displayed in the story of Lucifer and Jesus.
Satan, a created being, exalted himself to Gods level and was eternally cast down. Jesus is God and he humbled himself to be of creation, and he was eternally exalted.
Scriptures To Meditate Upon
Proverbs 8:13 “To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.”
Proverbs 16:18 ” Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Proverbs 26:10 “Do you see a person wise in their own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for them.”
Jeremiah 9:23 “This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches,”
The only way we can do anything of any value is in Christ…so why boast about our own strengths…God made us and only through his strength and grace can we do anything.
Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
Psalm 139:14 “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”
1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:”
Luke 9:23 “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Mathew 16:24-26 ” Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”
Healthy Mind Ministry 
Hi! Thanks for an interesting perspective! Are you saying that self-love is a bad thing? Blessings!
1. The Bible instructs us to love our neighbor as ourselves. This is in fact the New Covenant commandment and it is given because by default we are born caring for our own selves. God knowing this uses it as an example to how we should treat others.
2. Now lets define love – According to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
3. To love yourself with biblically defined love is proper and called for in Scripture. Where we get into trouble is self-worship that comes from loving ourselves a little too much. Realizing that you are made from the earth, a humble beginning but bear Gods image (that is your true claim to being anything extraordinary), helps to reframe us into a place of balance.
4. Look to Christ for the ultimate answer. Did Christ exalt himself on earth? Did he ascend to the throne on earth over powering the rulers of the time telling all to come and bow at his feet? No, he walked in humility, often telling others to not tell others of the miracles he preformed. When the crowds started to get to large he pulled away to be alone with his Father. Whenever people exalted him, he pointed to his Father and stated that he was only doing what he saw his father doing. He humbled himself all the way to the cross. The sheer fact he was born into this flesh was humbling, he washed others feet, he maintained a completely obscure almost hidden presence while he walked on earth. Look to him as an example to follow in humility.
Thank you so much for all of this! You did not need to do all of this but I appreciate it! It is funny you say this because I immediately thought of the quote “You are made perfect in God’s image.” I agree with this wholeheartedly and I am a true advocate of self-love while making God the primary focus in one’s life. I hope I did not defend you! Blessings! Xoxo
No not at all. Being made in Gods image is the greatest honor we receive ❤️ that fact is something to find solace and beauty in.
But even there we sometimes see people get prideful claiming they are made more in the image of God than others! See the trickiest of how pride works? But that is why we must stay so close to God…it is very very hard I’d dare say impossible to be prideful in Gods presence.
Something that Derek Prince said in the fasting video yesterday was in reference to pride. It has been on my mind today, and you post about humility and pride. Excellent post! I especially love the quotes. Have you considered posting a list of suggested sermons, teaching, or books other than the Bible that you reference? I always enjoy hearing and reading about the resources that help others grow spiritually.
I have actually been thinking of taking the audio sermons from my YouTube collection…and combining it with links to several of the resources I personally believe to be absolute treasure chests hidden on the Internet…
http://www.biblebb.com/
This is a collection of sermons from many of the greatest Christian preachers and writers like Bunyon, Spurgeon etc…this is a library of their sermons that I am sure as a Pastor you will reap massive benefit from.
I have a couple others like The Christian Classics Ethereal Library and the Christians Apologetics Research Ministries stuff too.
Have you looked at preceptaustin.org? I have used it often in Message prep. It is a compilation of older and more recent preachers.
No but I will definitely check it out. I love getting new places to visit. 🙏🏻 thank you
Another serious caution against pride. The Spirit teaches “sufficiency in Christ alone”. The subtility of pride is such that a person could walk in pride even without knowing it, except he or she is deeply knit in the Spirit of humility.
In the world, the avenues of parading oneself in the place of God are increasing consistently and the surprising thing is, they may even be presented “in the Name of Christ”.
May the Father receive all the Glory due Him.
Firm words Dear Friend.
Would you mind reconsidering the belief of Satan as Lucifer (that is Satan being once an angel of light)? You used it in this post. If you don’t mind, there are some reference posts I will like to share with you.
More Lord Jesus to you.
I have been taught that Lucifer was Lucifer until God cast him down and now he is referred to as Satan.
To be honest, even in writing, it’s hard to always stay away from pride. By even posting my writings is it not a form of pride, saying to others, hear read what I have wrote. That is one reason I am always very heavy on the scripture…I don’t want it to be my personal opinion on anything…I want it to always bring God glory.
Thanks for the prompt response.
We can be sure to walk in pride whenever we walk in the flesh. However, walking in the flesh is not the way of the New Creature. The New Creature lives, but it really is CHRIST LIVING THROUGH HIM. If Christ is living through us, we can be sure that we will be free of pride because the Life lived is not of the corruptible realm.
The key here is Living by the Life of Christ. Christ Lives in you, in me, in the saints.
On the teaching of Lucifer being cast down and then becoming Satan, I received quite a doze of that teaching too myself, however, I have personally come to acknowledge it differently, considering what the scriptures themselves speak and what Christ Himself said of “Satan being a corrupted being from the beginning.”
I am careful not to post a link on your blog without your consent, so I will like to know if you will be OK with me sharing just two posts on the topic with you.
Sure share away!
Thanks for the openness.
Here is the first:
https://jesusisthewhole.org/2017/08/08/examining-the-misconceptions/
and here is the second:
https://www.google.com.ng/amp/s/factbasedtruth.com/2014/12/25/the-origin-of-satan/amp/
I hope to hear from you.
More of Lord Jesus to you.
I have respectfully read both articles provided and I still affirm my original belief, that Lucifer was once an Angel in heaven, became to prideful and was stripped of his right standing with God….
I tend to agree with the authors points in the link I am sharing with you…
“Some have suggested that these verses may actually be dealing with a human king of Tyre who was empowered by Satan. Perhaps the historic king of Tyre was a tool of Satan, possibly even indwelt by him. In describing this king, Ezekiel also gives us glimpses of the superhuman creature, Satan, who was using, if not indwelling, him.
Now, there are things that are true of this “king” that—at least ultimately—cannot be said to be true of human beings. For example, the king is portrayed as having a different nature from man (he is a cherub, verse 14); he had a different position from man (he was blameless and sinless, verse 15); he was in a different realm from man (the holy mount of God, verses 13,14); he received a different judgment from man (he was cast out of the mountain of God and thrown to the earth, verse 16); and the superlatives used to describe him don’t seem to fit that of a normal human being (“full of wisdom,” “perfect in beauty,” and having “the seal of perfection,” verse 12 NASB
Our text tells us that this king was a created being and left the creative hand of God in a perfect state (Ezekiel 28:12,15). And he remained perfect in his ways until iniquity was found in him (verse 15b). What was this iniquity? We read in verse 17, “Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.” Lucifer apparently became so impressed with his own beauty, intelligence, power, and position that he began to desire for himself the honor and glory that belonged to God alone. The sin that corrupted Lucifer was self-generated pride.”
http://www.christianity.com/theology/theological-faq/how-did-lucifer-fall-and-become-satan-11557519.html
I appreciate the link you provided. I have gone through the post, as open minded as I can (I believe its good to do read that way).
I believe the truth should fit into all frames of reference that relate to it. If according to the author, Lucifer became Satan after becoming corrupted, how then does this fit into the words of Lord Jesus stating that “Satan has NEVER had anything to do with the truth…and that he (Satan) HAS BEEN a liar and murderer FROM THE BEGINNING”? What BEGINNING could Lord Jesus have been referring to here? I wish the author addressed this.
Furthermore, according to his analysis, the description given in Isaiah 12 and Ezekiel 28 (that is of Lucifer’s previous estate) do not quite fit with ordinary (fallen) men. I agree with this. It does not fit well with ordinary (fallen) men. But it does fit well with man before the fall. In this context, Adam and Eve.
As stated in the first link I shared, all the characteristics of Lucifer’s glory are well detailed in the dominion that God gave Adam. Moreover, it was still pride (subtly seeking self gratification and independence from God) that lead man to be cast to the earth (of course, God sent man back to dust).
Thanks for giving some time Dear Friend. It’s always pleasant hearing your thoughts.
We can always keep our hearts open and I believe the Father will reveal unto us the truth in Christ.
Knowing Lord Jesus is knowing Truth and His bond goes beyond any theological differences.
More of Lord Jesus to you.
There are certain theological discrepancies we can overlook and others we can not say differences on the Diety of Christ or The Trinity – for those at least are deal breakers….
The details of who Satan is and how he came to be not so much. We can all agree that his new name means (adversary, deceiver, liar) maybe Jesus meant what he said in reference to Satans beginning as Satan. God often changed people’s names to line up with their new personality…
Or perhaps reaching even deeper into the Sovereignty of God – perhaps from the very beginning of Lucifer creation on the day God made him he was aware of exactly how Satan would betray him. Which as a Sovereign omniscient God he would have know from the inception of creating him exactly what would happen.
It’s interesting to say that Judas mirrors this in his interactions with Jesus. Jesus knew who would betray him yet he allowed Judas to be close to him, he even kissed Judas as he was apprehended. Jesus knew it was all according to his Fathers will.
Judas mirrors Satan a lot. Regardless I appreciate your open mind and I appreciate you sharing your perspective and the links to the articles. I did read them. I also appreciate your love for my welfare in Christ. God bless you…my friend.
I agree with you on the fact that some truths should be established as foundational and not overlooked.
It is true that God (also revealed in Christ) made reference to people according to their new state of being. However, both the new and old testaments ring through with comparisons of people in their beginning as well as what they later became.
For example, Lord Jesus mentions that the practice of divorce was not so IN THE BEGINNING. Furthermore, the Lord also mentions through the prophets how the Israelites were innocent AT THE BEGINNING of their relationship with Him and how they turned away from their innocence. Later in the book of Revelation Lord Jesus speaks about how the Church of Laodecea had left their love for Him, which they had AT THE BEGINNING.
There is quite a distinction between the state of beings who left a previous estate and those who have been that way. And this seems so even when it seems to relate with angelic beings too. We can consider Jude’s statement about the “angels (messengers) who did not keep their place…”
God mentions how He creates good and evil, and He gives no apologies about it.
I also agree with God’s Sovereignty which includes His being all knowing.
Thanks for the hospitality. You have been very kind. The saints ought to look out for one another. I believe we will keep looking out for each other as well as for other saints.
Amen to your prayer for me.
More of Lord Jesus to you.
A great post altogether! I have thought of that C.S. Lewis quote for years. It is true if you come to it believing that you are completely corrupted by yourself. Yet, if you (speaking you in general terms) do not come to the table thinking that you are totally depraved and lie dead at the bottom of the ocean without God’s saving grace, then I think you indeed do need to be thinking less of yourself because you have erected in your mind something greater of yourself than what is true through the Scriptures. But, generally, on a daily basis, I agree that we should be thinking of ourselves less.
Thank you for a great comment! I love C.S Lewis and he has given us so many great literary works ❤️
The closer we draw to God and his perfection, it becomes exceedingly impossible to feel as if we are anything to be glorified. I praise God that the Lord saved a sinner like me. Wrapping your mind around the grace and love that Jesus personified and how he was able to do that which no other could ever do, meditating on that leaves us little time to examine our own self proclaimed greatness.