Pride is a Christian’s great enemy. It builds a wall between us and God. And we do not know that we’re headed for disaster until we fall.
The worst kind of pride is spiritual pride. It puffs us up. It makes us feel as if we’re doing something great for God and God owes us something for the service we do. When we’re filled with spiritual pride we smell like a rotten egg to God. It is simply nauseating.
Another kind of pride is caused by ambition. In passages that Bible Scholars believe talk about Satan’s fall, his ambition to rise above God is mentioned (Isaiah 14:13–15). Also his pride which was caused by his beauty (Ezekiel 28:17).
It is good to learn the lesson that powerful kings learned in the past. King Nebuchadnezzar was one of the greatest kings who ruled over the powerful empire of Babylon. Though God gave him a dream to warn him of his pride, though Daniel gave him the dream’s interpretation and requested him to repent before God, he spoke words of pride over his success (Daniel 4:30). And even while the words were still on his lips judgement came upon him from heaven. At the end of it all after seven years he was restored to sanity and he confessed, “Those who walk in pride he [God] is able to humble” (Daniel 4:37b NIV).
So also was the case with Uzziah. He was a godly king and a very powerful king because God gave him success. Yet after he became powerful his pride led to his downfall (2 Chronicles 26:16). And leprosy broke out on his forehead because he was unfaithful to his God. Hezekiah was another godly king whose heart became proud and did not respond to the kindness God showed him in answer to prayer. Therefore God was angry with him and his kingdom. But he later repented of the pride of his heart (2 Chronicles 32:24-26). Also note how God destroyed King Herod who had James killed and Peter put in prison. The judgement came because when he gave a speech and people said that “This is the voice of a god, not of a man” (Acts 12:22), he did not give praise to God. Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down. And he was eaten by worms and died.
The important thing to note is the warning that those who walk in pride, God is able to humble. Through difficulties, setbacks, criticism, lack of money, loss of esteem in the eyes of others, failures, ill health, misunderstanding and variety of other ways God is able to humble us when we walk in pride. This is because God detests the proud (Proverbs 16:5). Pride makes us forget God (Hosea 13:6). It surely leads to our destruction and downfall (Proverbs 16:18; 18:12).
Dear friend, pride deceives (Obadiah v.3) us to think that we are humble when we actually are not. Know that God opposes the proud. How does it feel to have God against you? But He gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). May that grace be yours so that you will be enabled “to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). But it takes a long time, a lot of failing, much tears and repentance before any one of us learns to walk humbly with our God.