To begin, I wish to share some of my favorite song lyrics ever. This is from a song called Punishment Divine by a German metal band called Blind Guardian. This line goes:
"Surrounded by night, I've been offered insight, there is none but the sin of pride. Am I wrong, am I right, am I losing my sight? Abandoning the superior mind."
I think of these words very often when I go outside to pray, because they seem so fitting to my condition. For, honesty convicts me to say that pride is a major struggle with me a great deal of the time. However, I know that it's not just me. Thus, in order to learn a little bit more about what God says about this issue and to learn how to better combat this sin, let us take a fuller look at pride in all its glory.
There are several verses in scripture that speak of pride and its opposite, humility. Let us start off with an example from two of the prominent church leaders of the early Church.
Not ever the early apostles were without blame. In Galatians, Paul writes of a confrontation with Peter. He says,
When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
Now here is Peter, an esteemed Church leaders, the man appointed as the rock upon which the church will be built. You might think that he was beyond reproach. However, this was not the case, as he ended up changing his behavior in front of these Jews to save face, which was tantamount to playing favorites, as all were part of Christ's body. Paul rightly rebuked him. However, think of one of us might act in Peter's case? Would we readily see the wisdom in Paul's reproach, or would we try to justify our actions in our pride? Even though Peter must have known the truth in Paul's words, surely they hurt his pride all the same. Peter did the godly thing and accepted a wise man's rebuke, as the Proverbs often say to do. Perhaps this is why Peter later writes in his own letter, "Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble." He could truly urge others to be humble becasue he had experience with humbling himself for the sake of the Church and the Kingdom of God. However, there are many other exortations in the New Testament concerning pride too.
1 Peter 5:6 - "Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
James 4:10 - "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."
Luke 14:10-11 - "But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Ephesians 4:2 - "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."
One of the best examples of humility is Jesus' own. Phillipians 2:8 says, "And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!"
(WORK IN PROGRESS!!)
There are several verses in scripture that speak of pride and its opposite, humility. Let us start off with an example from two of the prominent church leaders of the early Church.
Not ever the early apostles were without blame. In Galatians, Paul writes of a confrontation with Peter. He says,
When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
Now here is Peter, an esteemed Church leaders, the man appointed as the rock upon which the church will be built. You might think that he was beyond reproach. However, this was not the case, as he ended up changing his behavior in front of these Jews to save face, which was tantamount to playing favorites, as all were part of Christ's body. Paul rightly rebuked him. However, think of one of us might act in Peter's case? Would we readily see the wisdom in Paul's reproach, or would we try to justify our actions in our pride? Even though Peter must have known the truth in Paul's words, surely they hurt his pride all the same. Peter did the godly thing and accepted a wise man's rebuke, as the Proverbs often say to do. Perhaps this is why Peter later writes in his own letter, "Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble." He could truly urge others to be humble becasue he had experience with humbling himself for the sake of the Church and the Kingdom of God. However, there are many other exortations in the New Testament concerning pride too.
1 Peter 5:6 - "Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
James 4:10 - "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up."
Luke 14:10-11 - "But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
Ephesians 4:2 - "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."
One of the best examples of humility is Jesus' own. Phillipians 2:8 says, "And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!"
(WORK IN PROGRESS!!)