DEALING WITH PRIDE

 

INTRODUCTION:

The writer of Proverbs tells us that “God hates the proud look” and that

“There is more hope for a fool than a man who is wise in his own conceit.”

 

Think about it, “Do you want God to look at you and see something He hates.” No! Well, He hates a proud look. A proud look is the facial expression that proceeds from a proud heart.

 

Think about it, “Do you want God to look at your life and see something that will cause Him to resist you?” No! Well, the Word of God says, God resist the proud!

The problem with PRIDE is its middle letter. It is the self-centered life. It is the “Big Me” and “Little You” type of thinking. So in this message I want to make you hate the thing that God hates. The way I am going to attempt to do that is by reminding you of what Pride will cause in your life:

 

 

1. Pride will cause you to miss God and find trouble.

Proverbs “Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

 

ILLUS—One of the more recent technological developments has been the Global Satellite Positioning device, or GPS. You can look on a map and then see where you are in relation to where you are going. If you don’t know where you are going, you can just check it as you move and see the direction you are headed and then you can know where you are going.

 

Similarly, you can look into your life and if you see Pride, the Bible tells you that you can know where you are headed—toward destruction and a fall.

 

2. Pride will cause you to see the faults of others but not your own.

Luke 18: 10  "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  11  "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, `God, I thank You that I am not like other men--extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.  12  `I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'  13  "And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise [his] eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, `God, be merciful to me a sinner!'  14  "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified [rather] than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

 

QUESTION--In the above story, who got attention? Both of them did. One got man’s attention. The other got God’s attention.

 

Even the world is turned off by a boastful arrogant individual who thinks they are better than everybody else.

 

There is a principle in the above story. The man who makes himself tall will in the end be made small.

 

3. Pride will cause you to have a faulty view of God and self--this is what   happened to the devil.

 

1 Timothy 3:6  not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the [same] condemnation as the devil.

 

ILLUS--In other words, PRIDE blinds us to who we really are. Therefore we become too self-important and begin thinking the earth actually rotates around us. Remind you of someone else? Reminds me of what happened to Lucifer who fell from Heaven. Yep, he got to looking at himself and comparing how much more beautiful he was than the other angels, and then the next thing you know, he thinks he should be God. What happened? He fell. What awaits him? Eternal destruction.

 

Pride will cause you to follow the wrong set of footprints dear friend!

 

4. Pride will cause God to resist you.

1 Peter 5:5  Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to [your] elders. Yes, all of [you] be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for  "God resists the proud,  But gives grace to the humble."  6  Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,  7  casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

 

Illus—In a football game we often see a running back put out a stiff arm to keep a defender from tackling him. To me, this is the picture I see in the above verse. God stiff arms the person who has pride. In other words, whatever God is carrying, you can’t get to it if there is pride in the way.

 

5. Pride will cause you NOT to submit to God and NOT resist the Devil.

James 4: 6  But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:  "God resists the proud,  But gives grace to the humble."  7  Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  

 

NO SUBMISSION TO GOD

-Pride is a prayer killer.

Prayers from a proud heart go no further than our own ears which is why the proud person prays anyway, to hear himself.

 

NO RESISTANCE TO THE DEVIL

 

Illus—There is a terrible flu season going on this year. People are being encouraged to have their flu shots in order to create resistance to the flu virus going around. People take the vaccinations because they don’t want the flu to attack them if it comes near them.

 

 

If there were no other reason to avoid PRIDE it would be enough to know that PRIDE will take away your resistance to the Devil. You do not have the power to overcome and defeat the Devil with PRIDE in your heart. PRIDE I self-reliance and you can’t defeat the Devil without relying on the power of Jesus Christ.

 

CONCLUSION—I am calling on this church to be filled with hatred! Yes, hatred! May God help us to hate PRIDE when we see in our lives.

 

God hates pride, therefore we should hate pride.

 

Proverbs 6:16  These six [things] the Lord hates,  Yes, seven [are] an abomination to Him:  17  A proud look,