THE PERIL OF PRIDE ROSS SMITH
ALL REFERENCES FROM AMPLIFIED VERSION UNLESS NOTED
Proverbs 3:5 Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
My concentration in chapter 3 of Proverbs has been mostly on verse 6, but this week the significance of verse 5 begins to dawn more clearly. This verse still promotes “ATR” (Adherence, Trust, Rely, which are the basics of “believe”) but in slightly different terms, but in light of recent messages/studies, I have pondered more on the “TRUST” aspect. Obviously, when we lean on our own understanding, we have deleted “TRUST” from the equation.
The peril of relying on our own insight or understanding is that mostly it has been contaminated by PRIDE, whether we realise it or not. Either conscious or unconscious adoption of “self-sufficiency” is advertising that I am capable of directing matters myself and don’t need any help. Your initial reaction to this statement will be “that’s not true”, but on careful evaluation, we will find that underlying sentiment pervades our behaviour, and colours our motives.
Several times over the past few months, the principle of “HUMILITY” has arisen as either part of a study, as a virtue to be pursued, or a problem to be solved.
PRIDE IS AN ANTONYM OF TRUST
While ever we give pride any accommodation, either temporary or permanent in our lives, we are effectively cancelling God’s grace in our circumstances because the Word declares how repugnant “PRIDE” is to God. He reads our hearts, and when pride is evident, He sees that we lack confidence, or “TRUST” in His arrangements for us, and so withdraws until we wake up to ourselves.
Mark 7:22 calls pride “the sin of an uplifted heart against God and man.”
Pride is bound up in (A) hurt feelings (B) resentment (C) dissatisfaction with circumstances (D) taking offence (E) strife of any kind (F) silent debate (G) recrimination, (H) criticism, and we could probably complete the alphabet with emotions of similar extraction.
“HUMILITY”, also known as “MATURITY”, is when a person hurts you and you try to understand their situation rather than hurting them back. James calls the reverse, or “IMMATURITY”, “sensual desires”, and that is a broad nomenclature, and includes “pertaining to, inclined to, or preoccupied with the gratification of the senses or appetites; carnal or mundane matters, fleshly pursuits.”
James 4:1 WHAT LEADS to strife (discord and feuds) and how do conflicts (quarrels and fightings) originate among you? Do they not arise from your SENSUAL DESIRES that are ever WARRING in your bodily members?
It is mainly in our head that the “WAR” is waged, and it is often not just a skirmish, but a full-on battle. If we have “TRUST” however, we can confidently hand it all over to Father knowing that no matter what transpires, if we “TRUST” His wisdom and goodness, then I don’t have to retire at the end of the day, bloodied and bruised, but accepting that the disruptions that swirl around are God at work. This does not mean that we become ambivalent or complacent, but strenuously applying the principles of God’s Word in the event.
Pride often takes an unusual route, so let me explore. IMAGINATION is corrected by SENSE, but sometimes REASON has to restore our SENSE, but if we “TRUST ADHERE AND RELY” our faith will correct both. But both sense and reason are faculties of the “mind of the flesh”, a dimension in which pride can operate without restraint, and the devil finds it a convenient vehicle to derail God’s purpose for our life. Scripture confirms this when Paul wrote in Romans,
Romans 8:6 Now the mind of the flesh [which is SENSE AND REASON without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever].
In reflection, I see that the occasions when I “mess up” are those when I “lean on my own understanding.” Our “own understanding” frequently provokes a reaction, which is the direct consequence of pride. If there is no pride, there is only a remote chance of a reaction. Pride is the only disease that makes everyone sick except the one who has it.
Pride is the emotion that makes us insist we are right but does not help our righteousness.
There are several consequences of pride,
- it strangles communication
- it isolates us from Restoration
- it creates defensiveness
- it restricts us from being gracious
- it prohibits us from greatness
Let us look at each of these “PERILS” to see how destructive and infectious they are.
When we face a situation that confronts our pride, tension bills, and we find it difficult to communicate, our conversation is “STRANGLED”. Why is it that each one of us considers our opinion so important that we are prepared to forego fellowship with the very people we are called to love? Is “having my way” more important than obedience to the very first commandment? Have I not yet learned the very first principles of Psalm 46:10, “LET BE”, in other words, drop it, both the issue and my pride?
Jesus Christ came to bring “RESTORATION”, and he is still about this work. The word “RESTORATION” is ecclesiastical jargon that has lost its impact from overuse and underemployment. If we change the word to “CONFORMITY” we will see throughout Scripture that we are again required to be conformed to “His image and likeness”, and I don’t see one scintilla of pride in Jesus example.
RESTORATION or CONFORMITY becomes an impossibility when we lack the ability to forgive or even to apologise. Whatever happened to the instruction that was relevant to the church in Colossae but overlooked by the church in 2020.
Colossians 3:13 Be gentle and forbearing with one another and, if one has a difference (a grievance or complaint) against another, readily pardoning each other; even as the Lord has [freely] forgiven you, so must you also [forgive].
Where pride exists, we will find we become defensive. Even the most trivial comment can often be misconstrued as an affront to our person. There will of course, always be those who expose their motives by the expression of their mouth, but the maturity of the true believer realises that the plank has to be removed from his own eye before we try and deal with some other person’s eye. But frequently, in reflection, we will see that we are willing to fight at all costs to have the last word.
Our pride destroys our “GRACIOUSNESS”. We will vehemently deny we are “self-righteous” but find it very difficult to “make allowances”, expecting more of others than we are prepared to give of ourselves. Paul unashamedly prescribes that a lack of graciousness is “not becoming” of Christian life.
Ephesians 4:2 Living as becomes you] with complete lowliness of mind (humility) and meekness (unselfishness, gentleness, mildness), with patience, bearing with one another and MAKING ALLOWANCES because you love one another.
“GRACIOUSNESS” or “grace” is an ongoing development, becoming more apparent and of great benefit to those around about us as we conscientiously cultivate the conformity to the example shown by Jesus. The Psalmist was eloquent in describing “GRACIOUSNESS”, covering a wide range of qualities, none of which allowed for the noxious weed of pride to inhibit and choke the “GROWTH OF GRACE.
Psalm 92:14 GROWING IN GRACE they shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap [of spiritual vitality] and [rich in the] verdure [of TRUST, LOVE, AND CONTENTMENT.
- Our grace must continue to grow
- It has no “use by date”, age is not a factor
- Full of sap is different from full of pap; it has a “VITALITY” that is obvious
- Rich in verdure says that both the health and type of tree is clear
- The character is hallmarked by our “TRUST, LOVE, CONTENTMENT.”
We can never be “GREAT” when we lack humility. “GREATNESS” in God’s sight equates with servanthood, and Jesus pointed this out when James and John approached Jesus looking for positions of authority, they wanted to be “GREAT”.
Mark 10:43-45 But this is not to be so among you; instead, whoever desires to be great among you must be your servant, (V44) And whoever wishes to be most important and first in rank among you must be slave of all. (V45) For even the Son of Man came not to have service rendered to Him, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for (instead of) many.
Proverbs 18:12 Haughtiness comes before disaster, but humility before honour.
“HUMILITY” is not an innate trait, but it can be learned. Many mistake humility for weakness. But humility is a great heart opener. It’s hard to refuse anything to a humble heart. The Bible does not give any short cuts to success but proliferates in guidelines to success. David gave Solomon some good advice when he was about to expire.
1 Kings 2:3 Keep the charge of the Lord your God, walk in His ways, keep His statutes, His commandments, His precepts, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may do wisely and prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn,
Ross Smith 