“A Hard Head Makes a Soft Behind!”

Lou Coleman

By Lou Coleman

Man I must have been told that a thousand times growing up.  Talking about somebody grateful for those twins; Grace and Mercy… Boy, am I glad! God gave me another opportunity to be obedient. He said to me; “I will not tolerate this stubborn, hardhead stiff-necked spirit any longer. Repent and do right… Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Can I tell you, I got me some get right real quick! See the Bible says it is of God’s mercy that we are not consumed. It is by His goodness that we are led to repentance. It is by His intercession that we are delivered. It is by His grace that we are sustained. It is of His love that we have been drawn to Him. It is because of His everlasting arms being under us that we are kept. It is by His faith that we are saved. It is by His blood that we are cleansed. It is by His righteousness that we are clothed and it is by His indwelling Spirit that we are filled and by His power that we are kept. I tell you PRIDE is a sin to be hated, a sin to be confessed, a sin to mourn over, a sin to flee, and a sin to fight against. It defiles God. It defiles man. It divides society. It dishonors life and it destroys souls. Pride ultimately destroys all that it controls. It is such a deceitful sin. It is the road to ruin and it will escort you straight to Hell. Pride, its pervasiveness cannot be overstated. Haughtiness, arrogance, conceit, inordinate self-esteem, and vainglory are as common as the air we breathe. DO NOT, fool around with Pride… Because the Bible repeatedly warns of pride precipitating a fall. “A man’s pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor” (Proverbs 29:23) Yes, everything might go your way for weeks, months and even years. But make no mistake about it, the day will come when God’s hand will be upon you and you won’t be able to do as you please anymore. In that day you can cry and fight all you want, but there will be nothing you can do, because God’s Mighty Hand would have taken a hold of you.

Listen, pride was the first sin to destroy the calm of eternity. It was pride that cast Lucifer from Heaven and it was pride that cost our first parents their place in Paradise. No sin is more offensive to God than the sin of Pride. It militates against His authority, His law, and His rule… I tell you God and pride are like oil and water— they don’t mix! Pride is dogmatic in its antagonism to God and God is absolute in His opposition to pride. God never has and never will compromise with pride…. Don’t Get It Twisted!

The saddest thing about pride though is that many people who are infected and infested with pride have no idea that they are. As a matter of fact, the proud person is often very proud of his humility…  and that is why I implore you to look again at the man in the mirror.  If we hear God’s Word when it tells us that we are sinners and do nothing about it, then we are exactly like the man who looks in the mirror. And you know what they say about the man in the mirror…. “He gets up in the morning looks into the mirror and sees that his hair is messy. He promptly walks away without combing his hair and the rest of the day he thinks he looks great. This man is either denying what he saw in the mirror, or he does not believe it.” When we look at God’s Word without letting it impact our lives then we are either pretending that we don’t know what it says, or denying that it is true. As is true with the man in the mirror, any failure to respond cannot be blamed on a lack of understanding. This man made a foolish mistake with his natural face, how much greater a mistake would it be for us to make this mistake with our souls? God’s Word, is a mirror in which we can see who we truly are in light of who God is. We must not look at this mirror and walk away. (James 1).  Check yourself before you wreck yourself because pride is foolish and it will only set you up for a fall.

Don’t let pride creep in.  Clothe yourself with humility; Do not think more of yourself than what you ought to; if you are clothed with humility God will give you grace; even the grace to overcome sin in your life.  But if you don’t, make no mistake about it, God will humble you if you don’t humble yourself. Don’t take my word for it, read it for yourself in Leviticus 26:18-21. “A Hard Head Makes a Soft Behind!”

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” James 4:10

Author: Lou Coleman