Dealing With Pride

[Chad]

Dealing With Pride

All of us struggle with the sin of pride to some degree or another. This sermon, however, will point out the true seriousness of the sin, but it will also lead us to the humility that comes from Jesus Christ.

James 4:6-8 (esv) But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
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What we must see right up front is that pride comes directly from Satan himself. We are a fallen race and we follow after the ways of Satan. If we think of who Satan is and the hatred he feels toward God it should cause us to shudder with fear, and cry out for deliverance from such sin. Just as Satan is God’s enemy, so we are His enemy when we give way to the pride within us. God calls us to wash our hands and purify our hearts from such sin. I think all too often we who call ourselves Christians don’t even think it possible to hate God or be His enemy. However, if we want deliverance, if we want to claim His promise that He will draw near to us, then we must first be honest and see our sin for all the vileness it really is. We must see the seriousness of it and understand with our whole hearts that, unless we repent, we too will spend eternity in Hell right along with Satan.

1 Peter 5:6 (esv) Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
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The key to dealing with pride, as you will hear in this sermon, is to humble yourself. Sounds simple, doesn't it? But one thing that stops us from being crucified to our sin is that we don’t stay down in the dirt until God picks us up. I myself so many times have had God come to deal with my pride but I all too often pick myself up rather than wait in humility for God to say "Okay, you can get up now." As Scripture says, God has a specific time that He chooses to pick us up. I pray we would find a joy in humbling ourselves and wait for Him to work a true humility that can only come from His Holy Spirit.

Philippians 2:5-8 (esv) Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
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article from: carriedcross.org

 

[stephen]

Pride.....a monster indeed......will knock your block off...at the drop of a hat should you oppose.

The bible points out "the breath of man is in his nostrils"

Is 2 : 22 "stop trusting in man whose breath is in his nostrils" This would indicate to us, we are just a breath away from eternity.

You need to pray that the heart of yours keeps beating, and the breath continues, because it is so fragile. Just a breath between us, you and I, and eternity.

So glad I know Jesus!

 

[mounty]

I find i am a proud person. My father has always told me pride is a downfall and a dangerous thing. I agree
I have worked on this for a while now and i find i am improving.
When i catch myself being proud i try to humble myself and i have found i am much happier when i do this
I always try to remind myself i could lose all my material things tommorow and should be happy to if it is the will of God.
As my father says the more pride one has the higher the cliff they fall from.

 

[Dreamer]

"If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if an consolation of love, if any fellowhip with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal. Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Phil. 2:1-4

When I first rededicated my life to Christ, I was humble and knew I was basically a piece of dirt. Anything good that happened, I knew it was from God and gave Him all the glory. (I had very low self-esteem)

This sounds strange, but as my self-esteem started to grow, I dealt more and more with pride. Self-esteem is not wrong. I don't need to think of myself as a worm. But there is a balance. God first, others second, then self last.
I like that new song where the lyrics say, "So long, self, don't cry, but good-bye". The only way I can get rid of myself is to come clean with Christ every day, depend upon Him and allow Him to fill me with the Holy Spirit.

 

[calluna]

yep...pride is not good. Ooooh I've felt the sting of conviction when I have been prideful, humbling for sure. Thank you
Chad for the reminder, we all need to be careful about pride. I now know that everything I have, everything I am able to do, whatever that is in my life, is because God allows it and it could all change in a micro-second. It is all about Jesus and not me. May I always remember this. Thank you God.

:shade: Calluna

 

[calluna]

a question...

I have just been thinking.....what about when we say to our child that we are proud of them for doing well, or for making a right choice? when I tell my son this, I do give praise to God for the victory.
I often see signs that say 'proud to be an American', and we may hear people say it or if any of us say I am proud to be 'whatever country we are from'. Are these also elements of the pride we are talking about, or is it a different definition?

:shade: Calluna

 

[stephen]

Quickly precious sister, getting 1 am ish her in the U.K. The bible talks about the 'pride of man' That is something quite different from the pride we feel re-our children.

The 'pride of man' relates to inherent sin. Relates to 'the flesh' feeling to be something.......when the scripture teaches is filthy rags.

In His Love

 

[abigya]

Many times when I see pride in my character I realized that, it came from the self confident on my intelligence, ability to do something and considering my self I am better from every one around me.
At the same time when pride is with in me i start judging people looking at their weaknesses.

I totally agree how Brother Stephen defined pride
“The 'pride of man' relates to inherent sin. Relates to 'the flesh' feeling to be something”

Amazing!
How Jesus did it, bowing down and washed his disciple’s fits while he was the Master and Lord.
Another amazing thing I see from this event is he washed Judas fit along with the other disciples knowing the next day he will betray him.
Mark 14:43
Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.

If we look at Philippians 3: 1-14 no wonder why God used Paul mightily

4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:
5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee;
6as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.
13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Lord help us to humble our selves , In Jesus name

 

[mecartz]

Pride

Good post Chad.

Lucifer was proud. Most times pride hides itself. It may even show up as a form of false humility. :embarasse A sure sign that pride is present in a life is the quickness with which one gets hurt. Thinking one is so special as to be more special than others is also a form of pride.

Interestingly, there is also a form of pride called 'spiritual pride'. In this case, the person begins to unconsciously equate himself to God and cannot see anything wrong with them. They find it hard to be taught by others since they think they have the best answers all the time. This form of pride causes strife and loneliness.

May the Lord turn His search light into our hearts and root out all forms of pride.

 

[RJ]

Pride was of course the original sin with the fall of Lucifer.
I believe all sin only follows pride in self.
Humble yourself and avoid all pride and you will avoid most sin!