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Pride!
Pride vs. Humility
Before we take look at the sin of pride, lets look at the history of how these particular (7) sins came to be.
The origin of 7 deadly sins came about when Pope Gregory the I, in the year 1600, convinced the Roman catholic church to divide sins into 2 principle categories…
Venial--(not venereal) which meant a minor sin, one that can be forgiven by sacrament.
Capital (or sometimes called mortal)—were more serious, destroying grace and threatening eternal damnation.
These “7 deadly sins” are not in list form in the Bible but certainly represented over and over. They are not deadly in reality; but they could lead to literal death physically. Take anger for instance. If I make my wife Vicki mad at me, that could easily lead to my death.
What we must realize is that any sin, all sin, leads to death…spiritual death.
Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The list is more of a subspecies of every other sin. It can be broken down into 3 main categories of sin…
John 2:16
For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.
This scripture highlights what is known as the 3 punches of Satan;
• Lust of the flesh.
• Lust of the eyes.
• Pride of life.
These were sins that plagued the church then and today.
======================================================
There are combatants to each of the 7 deadly sins known as the “7 virtues”. The first four are known as “Cardinal Virtues”. They are… (Shown below with their counterpart in parenthesis.)
1. Prudence (Slothfulness)
2. Justice (Greed)
3. Temperance (Gluttony)
4. Fortitude (Lust)
The last three are known as “Theological Virtues”
5. Faith (Pride)
6. Hope (Envy)
7. Love (Wrath)
Consider it like Newton’s 3rd law of motion…
“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”
Understand this…The devil cannot create, only duplicate.
The virtue, the goodness, the perfection, always came first. It was followed by the great deceptions from the Father of Lies and the Author of Confusion.
So, with Newton’s third law in mind consider that God created humility…and (with Satan’s ability to only duplicate), the enemy countered with…
Pride—Which means Vanity from Latin word “Superbia”
Pride is perhaps the greatest and worst of all. Solely responsibile for fallen men and angels. The root of all other sins. In Dante’s “Divine Comedy” he says, "The love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbor." or this definition…
Pride is excessive belief in ones own ability that interferes with the individual’s recognition of the grace of God.
Why is pride so sinful?
• Pride is giving yourself the credit for something that God has accomplished.
• Pride is taking the glory that belongs to God alone and giving it to yourself.
• Pride is essentially self-worship…and since everything good comes from God, what can we possibly take credit for?
Lucifer thought he could ascend above God. His pride cost him his seat in eternity but, he gained kingship of all who follow in his footsteps.
Ephesians 2:2
You once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air…
And God speaking of Leviathan (symbolic of a great dragon/serpent)…
Job 41:34
He looks down on all that are haughty;
he is king over all that are proud."
The world is pushing for pride, self exaltation, self godly awakening…but God’s Word contradicts that form of thinking.
Romans 12:3
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
We see prideful thinking and self above others in area’s like; race, looks, politics, environment, stature. But read this quote…
“Be not proud of race, face, place, or grace."
C. H. Spurgeon.
Did anyone know that Spurgeon said that? I wanted to claim it as my own because that is a good quote.
Even in Christian circles one with the gift of teaching or prophecy would look down on one with the gift of hospitality or mercy.
Our concern is always being seen and perceived above our neighbors, that’s pride,
Did you hear about the clever salesman who closed hundreds of sales with this line: "Let me show you something several of your neighbors said you couldn't afford."
We buy things we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t like.
1 Peter 5:5
…God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Proverbs 8:13
To fear the LORD is to hate evil;
I hate pride and arrogance,
evil behavior and perverse speech.
But to just tell you pride is a sin is not teaching you anything really. Who reading this doesn’t know pride is a sin?
Pride is one of my biggest fears, ever on the tip of my prayers, I am scared to death of pride. Normally my pride would not let me admit such weakness.
“I” is the seed of pride. It is the “center” of pride…literally! It is bookended by “pr” and “de”. The “I” is right in the middle of “pride”.
What makes pride so dangerous? Remember John Ritter?
A tear in the aorta, the heart condition that killed actor John Ritter, is a rare medical disaster that can strike without warning. The condition, called an aortic dissection, is a break in the main artery that carries blood from the heart. The lining of the aorta tears, separating — or dissecting — the middle layer of the vessel wall from the still intact outer layer.
Like an aortic dissection, there are little or no warning signs to pride. It is one of those things that seems noticeable only after is has been accomplished. It is the aortic dissection of sins.
Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
Pride comes before the fall. What does that tell you? It tells you that It is not until you fall that pride is usually recognized. After you trip you see the curb.
Pride is not like other sins. Adultery is planned. Murder is anger acted on. Stealing, lying, coveting. All these have warning signs, they are the hurricanes of sins, whereas pride is the tornado of sin; very little if any warning and leaving a path of destruction in its wake. There is however a little warning sign to keep watch for…Here are some warning signs Pride is seeping in…
1. You compare your life, behavior or morality to anyone other then Jesus.-
Matthew 5:48
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Philippians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
2. You become unteachable in any area or your life--
Matthew 10:24
"A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
Lincoln once got caught up in a situation where he wanted to please a politician, so he issued a command to transfer certain regiments. When the secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, received the order, he refused to carry it out. He said that the President was a fool. Lincoln was told what Stanton had said, and he replied, "If Stanton said I'm a fool, then I must be, for he is nearly always right. I'll see for myself." As the two men talked, the President quickly realized that his decision was a serious mistake, and without hesitation he withdrew it.
3. Take credit for God’s glory--taking credit for what God has given you.
4. You find it difficult to receive help or gifts--this includes self pity, insecurity, being self critical. Or the opposite, people who tend to have a know it all attitude.
Matthew 3:13-14
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
John had a ministry, a calling and though his intentions were right, pride of not being worthy tripped him for a moment. If God calls you to a ministry and you discount it out of unworthiness, you are showing false humility.
5) You consciously hold onto anything you know God has asked you to let go of.
1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Peter goes on to say…
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
Now, A diagnosis without a cure is just bad news. So what is the cure?
Luke 2:10
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
Gospel means good news. The opposite of pride is faith. (one of the 3 cardinal virtues)
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
The cure is humility from the Latin "humilis" which means "lowly". The concept is that only an individual with no self-importance can come close to God because only one that is hopeless without Him will do so.
Faith and humility are bound together. To have faith is to release your pride, pride that you are in control. Faith, at its core meaning, is humility.
1 Peter 5:6
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time
Proverbs 11:2
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
Again, being humble is admitting there is one higher then you. That is faith. Paul says,
2 Corinthians 10:17
But, "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
So, if pride comes before the fall, then you need to fall before the pride…that is, the moment you sense it, fall to your knees. It is only through much prayer do we overcome pride. But here is the bad news…you will never fully overcome pride.
Pali, this bull has killed me." So said Jose Cubero, one of Spain's most brilliant matadors, before he lost consciousness and died.
Only 21 years old, he had been enjoying a spectacular career. However, in this l958 bullfight, Jose made a tragic mistake. He thrust his sword a final time into a bleeding, delirious bull, which then collapsed. Considering the struggle finished, Jose turned to the crowd to acknowledge the applause. The bull, however, was not dead. It rose and lunged at the unsuspecting matador, its horn piercing his back and puncturing his heart.
Just when we think we've finished off pride, just when we turn to accept the congratulations of the crowd, pride stabs us in the back. We should never consider pride dead before we are.
Pride is a dandelion that keeps getting mowed along with the grass but the roots remain. It is Christ and His work alone that we are allowed to boast in. The donkey Jesus rode in on walked on the coats and palm branches, I wonder if he realized it was because of the one on his back?
One of the greatest ways to attain, and more importantly, to sustain humility, is to have accountability. This Christian walk was never meant to go alone. We must keep ourselves in check, be held accountable, realize this is a team effort, humble ourselves before one another and receive the strength we need.
Sportscaster and former baseball great Ralph Kiner tells the following story: After the season in which I hit 37 home runs, I asked Pittsburgh Pirate general manager Branch Rickey for a raise. He refused. "I led the league in homers," I reminded him. "Where did we finish?" Rickey asked me. "Last," I replied.
"Well," Rickey said, "We can finish last without you."
Individual effort and success can easily lead to pride. The great ones who are humble, bring others up to where they are rather then perch themselves high above the flock.
I close with this verse…
James 4:7-10
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Be Blessed.
Pride vs. Humility
Before we take look at the sin of pride, lets look at the history of how these particular (7) sins came to be.
The origin of 7 deadly sins came about when Pope Gregory the I, in the year 1600, convinced the Roman catholic church to divide sins into 2 principle categories…
Venial--(not venereal) which meant a minor sin, one that can be forgiven by sacrament.
Capital (or sometimes called mortal)—were more serious, destroying grace and threatening eternal damnation.
These “7 deadly sins” are not in list form in the Bible but certainly represented over and over. They are not deadly in reality; but they could lead to literal death physically. Take anger for instance. If I make my wife Vicki mad at me, that could easily lead to my death.
What we must realize is that any sin, all sin, leads to death…spiritual death.
Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The list is more of a subspecies of every other sin. It can be broken down into 3 main categories of sin…
John 2:16
For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.
This scripture highlights what is known as the 3 punches of Satan;
• Lust of the flesh.
• Lust of the eyes.
• Pride of life.
These were sins that plagued the church then and today.
======================================================
There are combatants to each of the 7 deadly sins known as the “7 virtues”. The first four are known as “Cardinal Virtues”. They are… (Shown below with their counterpart in parenthesis.)
1. Prudence (Slothfulness)
2. Justice (Greed)
3. Temperance (Gluttony)
4. Fortitude (Lust)
The last three are known as “Theological Virtues”
5. Faith (Pride)
6. Hope (Envy)
7. Love (Wrath)
Consider it like Newton’s 3rd law of motion…
“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”
Understand this…The devil cannot create, only duplicate.
The virtue, the goodness, the perfection, always came first. It was followed by the great deceptions from the Father of Lies and the Author of Confusion.
So, with Newton’s third law in mind consider that God created humility…and (with Satan’s ability to only duplicate), the enemy countered with…
Pride—Which means Vanity from Latin word “Superbia”
Pride is perhaps the greatest and worst of all. Solely responsibile for fallen men and angels. The root of all other sins. In Dante’s “Divine Comedy” he says, "The love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbor." or this definition…
Pride is excessive belief in ones own ability that interferes with the individual’s recognition of the grace of God.
Why is pride so sinful?
• Pride is giving yourself the credit for something that God has accomplished.
• Pride is taking the glory that belongs to God alone and giving it to yourself.
• Pride is essentially self-worship…and since everything good comes from God, what can we possibly take credit for?
Lucifer thought he could ascend above God. His pride cost him his seat in eternity but, he gained kingship of all who follow in his footsteps.
Ephesians 2:2
You once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air…
And God speaking of Leviathan (symbolic of a great dragon/serpent)…
Job 41:34
He looks down on all that are haughty;
he is king over all that are proud."
The world is pushing for pride, self exaltation, self godly awakening…but God’s Word contradicts that form of thinking.
Romans 12:3
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
We see prideful thinking and self above others in area’s like; race, looks, politics, environment, stature. But read this quote…
“Be not proud of race, face, place, or grace."
C. H. Spurgeon.
Did anyone know that Spurgeon said that? I wanted to claim it as my own because that is a good quote.
Even in Christian circles one with the gift of teaching or prophecy would look down on one with the gift of hospitality or mercy.
Our concern is always being seen and perceived above our neighbors, that’s pride,
Did you hear about the clever salesman who closed hundreds of sales with this line: "Let me show you something several of your neighbors said you couldn't afford."
We buy things we don’t need, with money we don’t have, to impress people we don’t like.
1 Peter 5:5
…God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Proverbs 8:13
To fear the LORD is to hate evil;
I hate pride and arrogance,
evil behavior and perverse speech.
But to just tell you pride is a sin is not teaching you anything really. Who reading this doesn’t know pride is a sin?
Pride is one of my biggest fears, ever on the tip of my prayers, I am scared to death of pride. Normally my pride would not let me admit such weakness.
“I” is the seed of pride. It is the “center” of pride…literally! It is bookended by “pr” and “de”. The “I” is right in the middle of “pride”.
What makes pride so dangerous? Remember John Ritter?
A tear in the aorta, the heart condition that killed actor John Ritter, is a rare medical disaster that can strike without warning. The condition, called an aortic dissection, is a break in the main artery that carries blood from the heart. The lining of the aorta tears, separating — or dissecting — the middle layer of the vessel wall from the still intact outer layer.
Like an aortic dissection, there are little or no warning signs to pride. It is one of those things that seems noticeable only after is has been accomplished. It is the aortic dissection of sins.
Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
Pride comes before the fall. What does that tell you? It tells you that It is not until you fall that pride is usually recognized. After you trip you see the curb.
Pride is not like other sins. Adultery is planned. Murder is anger acted on. Stealing, lying, coveting. All these have warning signs, they are the hurricanes of sins, whereas pride is the tornado of sin; very little if any warning and leaving a path of destruction in its wake. There is however a little warning sign to keep watch for…Here are some warning signs Pride is seeping in…
1. You compare your life, behavior or morality to anyone other then Jesus.-
Matthew 5:48
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Philippians 2:3
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
2. You become unteachable in any area or your life--
Matthew 10:24
"A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
Lincoln once got caught up in a situation where he wanted to please a politician, so he issued a command to transfer certain regiments. When the secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, received the order, he refused to carry it out. He said that the President was a fool. Lincoln was told what Stanton had said, and he replied, "If Stanton said I'm a fool, then I must be, for he is nearly always right. I'll see for myself." As the two men talked, the President quickly realized that his decision was a serious mistake, and without hesitation he withdrew it.
3. Take credit for God’s glory--taking credit for what God has given you.
4. You find it difficult to receive help or gifts--this includes self pity, insecurity, being self critical. Or the opposite, people who tend to have a know it all attitude.
Matthew 3:13-14
Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"
John had a ministry, a calling and though his intentions were right, pride of not being worthy tripped him for a moment. If God calls you to a ministry and you discount it out of unworthiness, you are showing false humility.
5) You consciously hold onto anything you know God has asked you to let go of.
1 Peter 5:7
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Peter goes on to say…
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
Now, A diagnosis without a cure is just bad news. So what is the cure?
Luke 2:10
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
Gospel means good news. The opposite of pride is faith. (one of the 3 cardinal virtues)
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
The cure is humility from the Latin "humilis" which means "lowly". The concept is that only an individual with no self-importance can come close to God because only one that is hopeless without Him will do so.
Faith and humility are bound together. To have faith is to release your pride, pride that you are in control. Faith, at its core meaning, is humility.
1 Peter 5:6
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time
Proverbs 11:2
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.
Again, being humble is admitting there is one higher then you. That is faith. Paul says,
2 Corinthians 10:17
But, "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
So, if pride comes before the fall, then you need to fall before the pride…that is, the moment you sense it, fall to your knees. It is only through much prayer do we overcome pride. But here is the bad news…you will never fully overcome pride.
Pali, this bull has killed me." So said Jose Cubero, one of Spain's most brilliant matadors, before he lost consciousness and died.
Only 21 years old, he had been enjoying a spectacular career. However, in this l958 bullfight, Jose made a tragic mistake. He thrust his sword a final time into a bleeding, delirious bull, which then collapsed. Considering the struggle finished, Jose turned to the crowd to acknowledge the applause. The bull, however, was not dead. It rose and lunged at the unsuspecting matador, its horn piercing his back and puncturing his heart.
Just when we think we've finished off pride, just when we turn to accept the congratulations of the crowd, pride stabs us in the back. We should never consider pride dead before we are.
Pride is a dandelion that keeps getting mowed along with the grass but the roots remain. It is Christ and His work alone that we are allowed to boast in. The donkey Jesus rode in on walked on the coats and palm branches, I wonder if he realized it was because of the one on his back?
One of the greatest ways to attain, and more importantly, to sustain humility, is to have accountability. This Christian walk was never meant to go alone. We must keep ourselves in check, be held accountable, realize this is a team effort, humble ourselves before one another and receive the strength we need.
Sportscaster and former baseball great Ralph Kiner tells the following story: After the season in which I hit 37 home runs, I asked Pittsburgh Pirate general manager Branch Rickey for a raise. He refused. "I led the league in homers," I reminded him. "Where did we finish?" Rickey asked me. "Last," I replied.
"Well," Rickey said, "We can finish last without you."
Individual effort and success can easily lead to pride. The great ones who are humble, bring others up to where they are rather then perch themselves high above the flock.
I close with this verse…
James 4:7-10
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
Be Blessed.
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