March 13, 2020 – Click here to listen
What would you suppose is the worst sin that has ever plagued all creation? It is pride and it began with Satan when he was in heaven and cast down for it. This sin has plagued all of mankind beginning with Adam and Eve when they were told they could be like Gods if they ate of the forbidden fruit. It has continued through today.
C.S. Lewis wrote of this sin in his fabulous book, Mere Christianity and he hit the nail on the head.
There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which everyone in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. I have heard people admit that they are bad-tempered, or that they cannot keep their heads about girls or drink, or even that they are cowards. I do not think I have ever heard anyone who was not a Christian accuse himself of this vice. And at the same time I have very seldom met anyone, who was not a Christian, who showed the slightest mercy to it in others. There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.
The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility. You may remember, when I was talking about sexual morality, I warned you that the center of Christian morals did not lie there. Well, now, we have come to the center. According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.
T.S. Elliot said: Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important. And yet pride can be readily seen in others but seldom in ourselves. Again C.S. Lewis weighed in by saying, A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you’re looking down, you can’t see something that’s above you. Pride makes people arrogant, rude, and hard to get along with.
If you suffer from this curse, then try to put things in perspective. It is important to be a good person and live our lives the way God would have us to live. Bill Bright once described himself as a microbe on the back of a flea on the back of a dog in the Master’s house. We own nothing and we got our talent, looks and all ability from the Lord almighty. He is the only One who could genuinely demonstrate pride had He wanted to do so, but He chose to be born in a lowly manger and walked dusty roads in humility miles on end until he was finally crucified on our behalves.
Make no mistake, Pride is an important topic discussed in the Bible. It is a sin that the Lord despises. In Proverbs 16:18 it states that Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. The Bible plainly states that God opposes the proud. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to be opposed by almighty God. Now Satan with God’s help I can defeat, but no one can defeat God . . .
James 4:6
God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble –
Have a great weekend and go to church this Sunday!