Pride Inside

     In today's society, the term "pride" is widely used as a good thing. Cheers as ballgames even note their mascot pride and remind students to have "Pride Inside." Teachers tell students how proud they are of their accomplishments. Parents tell their children that they are proud to be their parents. These all sound like positive praises and compliments. So why does the Bible admonish the proud?

    In Isaiah 5:21, we are told, "Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight." If you thought of yourself as wise and clever, wouldn't that bring you pride? How about what Proverbs 11:2 tells us of the consequences of pride, "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." Another problem with pride is stated in Proverbs 13:10, "Where there is strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice." 

    Dictionary.com defines pride as "a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements." Even God said in Genesis 1:31 (KJV), "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." He said "every thing" including the humans he made were "very good," so it would seem he had a "deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from [His] own achievements."

    But I think this may be "where the rubber meets the road." Who created humans? God. If a singer writes a song, s/he has copyright privileges to the lyrics and music in that particular song, so it is not legal for someone else to sing the song and claim it as his/her own creation. God has copyright laws on us. He made us for His purposes and not our own. He does allow us to choose between Him and Satan, but many think they are just making their own decisions about life in some sort of ethereal neutral zone type of world. There is no fence sitting in this life. We must pick a side to walk on: God's or Satan's.

    This is what Proverbs 8:13 tells us about how God feels about pride, "To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech." Isaiah 2:11 gives more clarity on pride, "The eyes of the arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day." The prophecy continues in Isaiah 13:11, "I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless." 

    These scriptures may have you asking why a loving God would require His creations to "fear the LORD," expect that He be "exalted in the day," and "punish the world for its evil"? First, one definition of "fear" by Dictionary.com defines it as a verb meaning, "to have reverential awe of." That means we are to hold God in deep respect. Secondly, the Bible tells us in Romans 14:11, "It is written: 'As surely as I live,' says the Lord, 'every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.'" 

    God doesn't want to punish the world, but due to our pride inside, we think our ways are better than His ways. Since He is a just God, sin/evil cannot go unpunished. He even punished His beloved Israelites in Exodus 32:34, "Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin." 

    The same goes for us today, we may "get away" with our prideful attitudes that "tell" God rather than defer to His will, but in the end all pride/sin will be dealt with by God. It is best for us to humble ourselves, repent and ask God to forgive us now, rather than be prideful and refuse to bend to His will, because sooner or later He will decide on the consequences for our sins and that judgement will definitely be something to fear.