Westside Story Newspaper – Online The News of The Empire – Sharing the Quest for Excellence
Lou Coleman
By Lou Coleman
Yeah I said it! Just an egomaniac, arrogant, big-headed, cocksure person, thinking you are too good to be damned. Boasting that, “You are the Captain of your Fate; the Master of your Soul.” If you believe that Captain… I want you to know that your ship is about to Sink!
Many people think they are self-sufficient, no need for God. That spirit of independence apart from God is what the Bible calls pride. It ruined the human race [Genesis 3:5]. In Proverbs chapter 6 and verses 16 to 19 there is a list of seven things which God hates. These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren. Pride is put at the top of the list because it is the main factor which drives men and women’s disobedience and rebellion against God’s laws. The Bible says: Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not go unpunished” [Proverbs. 16:5]; The Lord shall cut off… the tongue that speaketh proud things [Psalm 12:3]; “God resists the proud…” [James. 4:6] For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and ‘he shall be brought low [Isaiah 2:12].
With pride in your heart you provoke God to anger. Not only will God not help you, God will literally become your adversary [1 Peter 5:5]. A lesson from Biblical history – Who better than King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to demonstrate a man who had God as an adversary. Daniel chapter 4 is a riveting one. I suggest you take a moment to read it. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had to learn the hard way. You don’t want to learn the hard way. You need to humble yourself on our own before the mighty hand of God, so He does not have to do the humbling to you or for you. Repeatedly God tells us pride precedes destruction. It’s not just that you will be humiliated. Ultimately you will be destroyed. Why? Because God hates pride, resists the proud, and sets Himself in battle array against the proud. Know that you will come to naught unless you repent. Worst of all, pride brings eternal ruin. Don’t take my word for it, read [Luke 18:9-14], the parable of the Pharisee and the publican.
As the Old Testament prophet Obadiah said: “Your proud heart has deceived you . . . . Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, says the Lord.” And the greatest prophet of them all Isaiah, speaking for the Lord, told the proud that they will be forced to make their bed with worms and maggots. There is no pulling of punches when it comes to describing the fate of the proud in the Bible. Pride is a deadly sin that causes those filled to overflowing with themselves great sorrow and grief.
The message is clear from beginning to end in the Bible – the proud will ultimately be brought low. The proud will ultimately fall. The proud must live with the consequences of their actions and their deeds. Perhaps this is a good day to say sorry to God for the pride in your heart. Perhaps today is a good day to begin to put right those things that your pride has caused. Perhaps today is a good day to clothe yourself with humility and to start to live the Christ-like life God has shown to you. Don’t be deceived, God will not be mocked. What you sow you will reap!
You pray for me as I continue to pray for you!
