Sin stems from Pride

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Psalm 10:4      In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

Proverbs 8:13     To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, even behavior and perverse speech.

Proverbs 11:2     When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.

Proverbs 16:18     Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 21:2-3     A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs his heart . . . is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

James 4:10     Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up

1 Peter 5:6-7     Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

1 John 2:16     For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

 

Pride—thinking we know more than God and that we are in charge of our lives; entitlement; bullying, can handle things like God—self reliance, self centeredness,  self condemnation.  Pride is the root of most sin, in fact the very first sin ever committed was rooted in pride.  Angel Lucifer thought he was equal to or better than God.  We know the result.  He and his minions were expelled from heaven and have learned about the fiery and stench-filled Hell.  But he transformed himself in his sneaky, slithering manner came to Eve and enticed her to have a bite of the fruit from the tree which God had commanded them to not eat.   We know the results. . .

I have always tried to not brag overmuch—but that certainly does not mean I was not prideful.  I thought I was not, then went digging deeper into pride, its meanings, and oh boy, yes, I am quite prideful.  I am so sorry, Lord.

“”Pride says we’re basically good and therefore deserve to have rewards.  Humility knows that God is good and we don’t deserve anything—we are sinners; we deserve death.  I know, take a breath!””  10/16/2017  Jaquelle Crowe    “7 symptoms of a Prideful Heart”

The Bible lists these (1) fear; (2)  entitlement;  (3) ingratitude;  (4)  people-pleasing;  (5)  prayerlessness;  (6)  hypocrisy;  (7) rebellion.

Our pride has us making judgments—we may criticize a change coming, we criticize others in appearance, choices they make in their life, how they dress, how they present, and on and on.  We may be fearful and nervous, full of anxiety frequently.  Pride is the root cause of fear because we believe we are in charge and deep down know we don’t have all the answers.

Perhaps we are not nearly as grateful as we should be.  I find several things each day to be thankful for—including someone letting me out in heavy traffic: I thank God He placed that person there and pray He grants something the person desires.  Im thankful each day, each time one of the hummingbirds graces my feeders and I see it.  I’m thankful for North Carolina weather, at least here at the beach.  I’m abundantly thankful for my family and friends . . .you get the idea.

I must admit people-pleasing stumped me for a few moments until I realized that when we are pleasing others, we may not be doing God’s will.  We may be doing it for the wrong reasons, not out of a genuine giving, but out of a need or desire to be seen.  That’s not serving God and His kingdom, that is self serving, a need to be noticed and praised.

I don’t know anyone who is in my circle who doesn’t pray, but not praying and seeking God is another symptom of being prideful.   HYpocrisy is another symptom.  Saying one thing and doing or thinking another.  Criticizing someone you hear judging another—then judging that person.  Kind of hypocritical, huh?  There are many ways we can be critical toward others—and then we have the same traits we are criticizing.  Wake up Call!!

We need to be reminded we are prideful, judgmental because we tell ourselves we are so good, and compare ourselves to what we ’think and see’ about others.  Because we judge others, and tell ourselves we are much better—or much worse.   But that knowledge is not within our means—it is something we can not be fully aware of, as only God knows the inner heart of anyone.

It is ONLY in God’s.  Our pride whispers that we behave better, we are somehow altruistic, and believe we are somehow superior to others.  That, my friends is pride—and sinful.

The Israelites were led out of Egypt and protected by God, yet because they were prideful and grumbled about what they did not have, they thought they deserved better, they were fearful about what their future held.  Many of them believed they could do better than being led through the desert, many doubted they would ever reach the Promised Land and felt God was not doing a good job.  Afterall, they were in a desert, water was not always plentiful, how long a trip would this be?  Worries and anxieties stem from pride when people think they are in charge and things are not going as expected or desired, then unease and fear start niggling and causing more unrest, unease.  It stems from pride.

We think we deserve all we want, (that’s entitlement)  but God does not give us all we want; BUT He gives us all we need.  Just as He gave the Israelites all they needed, but certainly not all they wanted.  They messed up often because of grumbling, pride, sin, theft (because they felt they deserved what they stole).  Like us, they were disobedient and malcontent from pride.  They were not humbled that God Himself was leading them, providing what they NEEDED, caring for them and their multiple herds and so forth.

“Pride is self worship and self preservation.   We don’t keep Him at the top, honoring Him always”.  10/16/2017   Jaquelle Crowe   “7 Symptoms of a Prideful Heart”  The Gospel Coalition.   We believe we can handle things and take care of all our issues; we only turn to God when all else fails.

It is our pride that convinces us we are in charge of our own destiny; we are responsible for getting a new job, we are in charge of paying all the bills and even if something unexpected comes up and bills are then tighter than planned, anxiety and worry increases.  They start having trouble sleeping, have issues keeping their mind on certain tasks, and things may slip at work, and they become more snappish and easily frustrated at home with family members.  The reality of not being in charge . . . other things have ramped up and have burdened that tight sense of control they have. 

It is our arrogance that until we totally turn and trust God as our Savior and deeply imbed in our minds and hearts that He is in control and leads and guides us through the path of life, that we begin to bridle our pride.  It is a process—afterall we have believed we were in charge of lives for a long time.  And now we find out that our Creator cares about us, watches over us, and will guide our steps if we seek HIm.  He makes it known He is capable of lighting our path and steering us in a manner that is to prosper us, not to harm us. 

Lastly is rebellion.  We are rebelling knowing what are sins and then continuing to do them.   There are a myriad of ways we can do this, and I’ll give a couple examples.  But we are charged with taking care of our body—the Holy Spirit resides within us and by abusing our body with overeating, drinking, smoking, not exercising and moving about, and doing other damaging things to our body, it is rebellion and therefore a prideful sin. 

We rebel against parents’ rules when we are growing up, we talk badly about a boss or teacher—that is

Researching this, I realized I have several areas I need to work with the Holy Spirit to change my prideful ways.  Ouch!  There’s a lot.  Thank You, God you have given me a loving Helper and Counselor.  Help me get my pride out of the way, so I am more fully in Your way.

I don’t know why You put up with me, but I am forever grateful for all You have done and do for me and ‘mybellaviews,’