Psalm 101
“1 I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O Lord, will I sing.
2 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me?
I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
3 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes:
I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.
4 A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.
5 Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off:
him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.
6 Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me:
he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.
7 He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house:
he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.
8 I will early destroy all the wicked of the land;
that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord.”
We were talking about pride today in our Sunday school lesson. It was a real coincidence that Lawrence and I were talking about pride on our way to Sunday school. So I looked up Scriptures that had the word ‘pride’ in them. There are so many that I had to break it into two parts.
God does not like pride. It goes before the fall.
Proverbs 16:18-19
“18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. 19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.”
Proverbs 8:13-14
“13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. 14 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength.”
Mark 7:20-23
“20 And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”
1 John 2:15-17
“15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof:but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”
Proverbs 16:5
“5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.”
I know the deceiver and author of lies is good at deceiving us, and many of us do not realize we’re prideful. Since it appears to be the opposite of humble, perhaps that’s an easier way to check ourselves. Humility seems to be a sign of weakness, but I think we can be strong and still be humble. Don’t you?
It’s only by God’s good grace that we’re what we are, and have what we have. How could we think we’ve accomplished anything ourselves? God created everything we have to work with!
I write. Where did the tools to write come from? If I trace them back to their origin, I find God in everything. My very breath, eyesight, physical abilities, life and all the blessings I enjoy came from God.
I see athletes give God credit for their achievements in their interviews, and I like that. That’s public acknowledgment of our Lord. That’s setting a great example for our children to see.
Sometimes men and women get prideful when they grow in their knowledge of God’s Word. They get on their high horse and think they’re better than others because they go to church, and look down their noses at others who don’t. That’s why some people call Christians hypocrites. They study God’s Word but don’t use it. They’re too busy thinking they’re better than others, and won’t get into the trenches, so to speak, ‘cause they don’t want to get their hands dirty! How easily we are deceived.
Praise God He washes us with the Blood of Jesus, so we’re spotless! Praise God for men and women, young and old who walk in the trenches helping others know Christ! Praise God for His warriors who wield the sword of the Spirit!
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