Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. – Proverbs 16:18 (NIV)
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. – Proverbs 16:18 (KJV)
Theme: Living According to God’s Word
This is our 7th week on this theme. See previous posts here: Everything…With all of Your Heart, No Grumbling, Overcome Evil with Good, A Gentle Answer, Walk, The Beginning of Knowledge,
Let’s start this week with a quiz question: What is the earliest sin recorded in our Bible?
Most of us immediately think of Adam and Eve disobeying God in the Garden of Eden, but Isaiah 14 references sin that occurred much earlier than the days of Adam and Eve. Who committed the sin? Satan himself. And what was that first sin? Pride. Satan “said in [his] heart…‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God…I will make myself like the Most High.’…” In his pride and arrogance, Satan thought of himself as “higher” than our God. See Isaiah 14:12-16 for the entire passage regarding Satan’s downfall.
Our Bible is filled with God’s many warnings against pride (here’s a link to over 30 verses regarding Pride). In this week’s verse specifically, God warns us that prideful hearts put us on the path to destruction and failure. I think it’s important to note that the pride referenced here is not simply being proud of an accomplishment, a family member, or similar. There’s nothing wrong with being pleased when hard work leads to success–a good grade in school, a promotion at work, a sports win, a project we’ve finished, etc.–as long as we remember that all such successes are blessings from our God. The pride God is warning us about, however, is thinking of ourselves as “higher” than others or even putting ourselves before God himself (just as Satan did). It’s a mindset of arrogance, self-importance, thinking we’re better than other people and putting our self-interests above the interests of others. Said another way, it’s always thinking we’re #1 and always looking out for #1.
But God loves us and wants us to succeed, so He warns that prideful mindsets are a path to disgrace while humility is the path to honor and blessing…
“those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” – Matthew 23:12 (NIV)
“Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the LORD, and humility comes before honor.” – Proverbs 15:33 (NIV)
“Before a downfall the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.” – Proverbs 18:12 (NIV)
He made the math pretty simple:
Pride = Disgrace
Humility = Honor
