Pride and Humility: Part 1 - Richard E. Simmons III

Today I am starting a new series on the issue of pride and humility. In the first two episodes we’ll look at the issue of pride and just how deadly it is in our lives, and then, in the final two episodes, we’ll look at God’s promises to those who live humbly as they walk through life. There will be a major application in Part 4, so you don't want to miss it. 

I want to start with the book of Isaiah, chapter two beginning in the twelfth verse. It says, “For the Lord of Hosts will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is proud and lofty, against everyone who is lifted up, that he may be abased. And it will be against all the cedars of Lebanon that are lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan, against all the lofty mountains, against all the hills that are lifted up, against every high tower, against every fortified wall, against all the ships of Tarsus, and against all the beautiful craft. The pride of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men will be abased, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.”

Proverbs 16:5 states this in a similar way, “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord. Assuredly he will not go unpunished.” Throughout the Bible you’ll see a phrase, which we’ll talk about in some of our future episodes, which is this, “God is opposed to the proud.” 

Now, I think we all have this desire to know, well, who are the proud? Surely not me. I know there are a lot of proud and arrogant people out there, but surely not me. There are two ways to define pride. One of them is "justifiable self-respect"; the idea of striving for excellence and being the best that you can be; the idea of taking pride in what you do. That is a positive definition. 

But the pride that God detests, the pride that is such an abomination in His sight is arrogance. And arrogance is nothing more than an internal feeling or impression of superiority over others. The Greeks called it hubris, which meant too high a view of yourself.

This is Part 1 of a 4-Part series. I hope you enjoy it!