Pride is one of the seven capital sins. It is the greatest
sin because it is the submit of self love and is directly opposed the
submission to God and is mostly hated by God.
When you live a life of pride you are opposing God. The
scripture pointed out some individuals who thought everything they have
belonged to them, thereby, neglecting God who gives us power to get wealth.
1.
Nebuchadnezzar never acknowledge God as the
creator of all things. He never give Him praise as a giver of wisdom and
wealth, rather, he was full of self and pride by uttering an outrageous remark
“… is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty.” Daniel 4:30.
I want you to take note of those words in
bold; “by the might of my power”,
Nebuchadnezzar thought within himself that everything he did was as the result
of
his power and greatness. Many people like this king neglect the omnipotence
of God in their daily routines. Until you acknowledge the giver of wealth, you
cannot go far in life. “the honor of my
majesty”, I always shed tears whenever I come across the words of this
self- exalted king, who never know how to attribute honor to God. He magnified
himself, what a pity! He never knows that man cannot magnify himself. What a
life!
I so much love God because He knows how to
deal with this kind of person. The scripture recorded that “he was driven from men, and he
did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his
hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nail like birds claws.”
Daniel 4:33. But wait for a minute, was
this not the man that boasted to have had power and might? Why then was he
driven from his kingdom which he built by the might of his power? I hope you
learnt something here that you don’t own yourself, the controller of heaven and
the earth have the power to decide what
happens next in our life, so be careful how you live your life because it’s not
your own.
No doubt, he realizes that there is God in
heaven and “praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are
truth, and His ways judgment” and he even advice you that “those that walk in
pride He (God) is able to abase.” Daniel 4:37, so be wise.
2.
Herod, the king that opposed the gospel of Christ,
and persecuted the church. After killing James the brother of John with the
sword, he went ahead by capturing Peter hoping to kill him after Easter
celebration. The reason been that he never like the people of God and he want
all the glory to be given to him. Pride makes you to forget God. It is the
devils; imparted nature that glorifies self and forget God.
Pride will never allow you to see the end
but paint the present as the utmost in life.
God hates pride, Proverbs 8:13. Don’t do
the things that God frowns at.
Herod the king was a victim of pride and
his life was terminated as he died a shameful death. God was so displeased when
Herod “arrayed in royal apparel, set upon his throne, and made an oration
unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, it is the voice of a god, and
not of a man.” Acts12:21, 22. It was not long afterward, that “the
angel of the Lord smote him because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten
of warms, and gave up the ghost” (Acts 12: 23). When we gave God the
praise, He straightens us. Herod never acknowledges God, he never gave Him the
glory, and rather, he attributed everything to himself, what a shameful death
that he died. I pray, you will not die a shameful death in Jesus name! When you
give Him glory He exalts and lift you higher than you are. Learn to crucify
self and exalt God in your life. A man that brags is a man that is void of
knowledge.
3.
Pharaoh was yet another ‘stubborn’ and
tyrannical king who was so influenced by the devil and was position intoxicate
perhaps, thought within himself, ‘there is none like unto me’. Pharaoh, the
king of Egypt help the Israelites captive after the death of Joseph, the fact
that he “knew not Joseph” in Exodus
1:8 was not enough or give him license to oppress Israelites to the point of
killing their male children.
God used Moses as a liberator to secure the
liberty if Israelites from the tyrant whose aim was to eliminate God’s chosen
people through “hard labor” and “oppression”. Though, he succeeded a little bit
but God did not allow him to terminate the nation of Israel.
When a man hardened his heart God give up
to a reprobate heart to do what he like. God commanded Pharaoh through Moses by
saying: “thus saith the Lord God of Israel, let my people go…” Pharaoh,
full of pride taunted, “Who is that Lord, that I should obey his
voice to let Israel go?” Never self to ruin your life. Though it was
obvious that he never knows Lord in the same Exodus 5:2, but wouldn’t have
given him that impetus to reply in that lambasted way. Pride kills.
His pride of not letting Israel go brought
severe punishment and destructions in his kingdom, Egypt.
Friend, never allow pride to bring
destruction to your life, never question God arrogantly. He owns your life and
everything you have learn to be humble.
Let’s Look At The Different Types Of Pride:
a.
Pride o Superiority – It makes us want to
control others or impose ourselves on them (Domineering tendency/spirit) make
our will rigid and unbending when others assert authority. It is self-will and
obstinate that set us against God’s will. This pride blindfolds the person to
reason from others.
b.
Pride of independence - The highest from is
atheism lead to disobedience and insubordination, contempt and arrogance
contradiction, refusal of advice and assistance, resentment to reproof by
authority, and ultimately blasphemy against God can also lead to biter cursing
and irreverence in act and word. Major problem is delusion in view of our own
faults and self-conceit.
c.
Pride of intellect - Closely related to pride of
independence, gives false assurance that one knows it all.
d.
Pride of Ambition – Leads to seek position or
offices of honor and dignity by which we prefer ourselves to others, however
worthy they may be. Makes us dream schemes and projects and undertakes things
through presumption even when we are ignorant of how to go about them.
Excessive confidence makes us overestimate our ability, immediate desires,
vainglory and desire for praise stem from pride.
e.
Pride of spiritual vanity - Makes us imagine
ourselves to be perfect and our acts always virtuous or finding reason to
excuse faults when we acknowledge them.
f.
Pharisaical – Boastful, critical of others, it
makes us over-talkative; it leads to lie and contradiction.
g.
Pride of self pity - Over anxious about what
people think or will say about us. We brood over and imagine wrongs and do not
easily forgive others.
h.
Pride of timidity – Unreasonable fear, it makes
us fearful of others view and opinion so we are controlled by human respect as
opposed by God.
i.
Pride of Scrupulosity - Fixed our eyes on wrong
things, so that we pay attention to things that don’t merit such attention
while we are unscrupulous in things which ought to concern us.
Pride is found in every sin and is sin in itself, let
us die for self – John 12:24; Galatians 2:20 to overcome the capital sin and
make heaven at last.
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the live which I now in the flesh
I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”
Crucifixion of the flesh is what guarantees us eternal
life.
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