“When the Lord has finished all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.” For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding. I removed the boundaries of nations, I plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their kings‚“ (Isaiah 10:12-13). The King of Assyrian was taking credit for his successes, instead of giving the Glory to God.
“But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall” (2 Chronicles 26:16). Uzziah sought to put himself into a position that God had not ordained him to be, and he was punished for it.
We are to hate all sin because it is displeasing to God and destructive to the soul. The Bible tells us to fear the Lord and hate evil and every false way. Wherever there is an awesome respect of God there is a holy fear and dread of sin. But there is one sin that is particularly evil, and that sin is pride. Of all the sins in the Bible, pride is the most common, and the most dangerous and evil.
Don’t get self-righteous and think that you do not have this particular problem, because everyone has this problem. Mankind is extremely self-centered and conceited. Everyone hates pride and arrogance in others, but we must learn to hate them in ourselves.
Of all the sins that are mentioned in the Bible this is the one that will bring a person down. Solomon wrote, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). Isaiah wrote, “The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:17).
The center letter in the word “pride” is the letter “I.” The “I” in pride says that “I” am better than you are and that my family is better than yours is. The “I” in pride says that “I” deserve that raise in salary more than that other person, and so “I” do everything “I” can to put that other person down in any way “I” can. The “I” in pride says that “I” deserve that customer more than you do, so “I” tell lies about you so that the customers will not trade with you. The “I” in pride says that “I” deserve that car, airplane, or whatever, more than you do; and so “I” steal from you anything that you have that “I” think “I” deserve more than you do. The “I” in pride says that “I” deserve your wife or husband more than you do, which often ends up in adultery and divorce. The “I” in pride says that “I” do not like you and so “I” decide to take your life from you, which leads to murder.
The sin of pride leads to all other sins! You cannot escape that fact. The “I” of pride in every one of us creates all the problems in this evil world that we live in. Every so often I hear someone say, “But I have still got my pride.” And my thoughts are, “And the evil of your pride shows.”
It was the sin of “pride” that caused the fall of Lucifer: “How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart, “I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit” (Isaiah 14:12-15). Notice the “I will” of Lucifer, who we now call Satan.
There is the saying, “The highest hills are most exposed to lightning.” Anytime you place yourself into an exalted position you have put yourself in a dangerous position. We all need to recognize the fact that any success we have in life is totally dependent upon the grace of God. And along with this success there is a great responsibility to use our success, whether it is financial, political or social, in a way that will glorify God.
The higher up the ladder we climb the farther we can fall, and when on top there are always those “slippery places” which can bring us down in an instant. We all need to do a lot of self-examination and spend much time in earnest prayer, praying that God will give us the wisdom to be humble over our successes. We all know that no one can succeed in life without other people helping us. And these other people do not just happen into our lives; God brings them into our lives.
Mankind’s haughtiness will be brought down-God will see to that. Those that God puts in leadership positions should take warning, God will not be mocked; you will reap the consequences of your actions (cf. Galatians 6:7).
Jesus Christ said, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11). Pride puts a person in opposition with God, and any time you oppose God you always come out a loser. Peter wrote, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5). Pride will cause a person to think that they are good enough to go to heaven without needing Jesus Christ as their Savior.
God says, “I will punish the world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will humble the pride of the ruthless” (Isaiah 13:11).