Removing the Obstacle of Pride

Scripture Reading: Daniel 4:28-37

Today's Treasure:

"I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the spirit of the contrite" (Isaiah 57:15).

According to Isaiah 43:7, Christians are called to allow the King of all creation to reveal Himself through us. He will not share His glory with another, not even with His own children. Not because He's egotistical but because He's interested in our eternal treasures. By demanding that we seek His glory alone, He calls us to overcome the overwhelming and natural temptation to seek our own. So what do you think would be the biggest obstacle to glorifying God? Pride.

Alexander Pope called pride "the never-failing voice of fools."* Pride—a destroyer of ministries, marriages, friendships, jobs, and character. God will be most readily seen through those who desire His fame above all else. He tucked a wonderful Scripture in the book of Isaiah that beautifully illustrates an attitude through which God will undoubtedly be glorified. Isaiah 26:8 says: "Your name and renown are the desire of our hearts." Desiring God's fame above all else sounds simple, but it's not. Few things are more contrary to our human natures than desiring anyone's fame above our own. Even when we desire the fame of our spouses or children, deep inside we are often yearning for the fame they might lend to us.

God's command to give Him glory does not come without a warning. Feel the weight of Jeremiah's words about pride: "Give glory to the LORD your God before He brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills. You hope for light, but he will turn it to thick darkness and change it to deep gloom" (Jer. 13:16). In verse 17 God went on to warn that captivity would come to His people, due to pride, if they did not listen to Him. "Because of your pride.the LORD's flock will be taken captive."

Pride is a boulder in the road on the journey to freedom in Christ. The size of this boulder differs with each of us according to the degree to which we struggle with pride. I can hardly imagine that any one of us sees only a small pebble in our way. To go forward from here, God must empower each of us to roll the boulder of pride off our road to liberty. I believe this stone will roll if we give it three mighty shoves.

1. View pride as a vicious enemy. Proverbs 8:13 quotes God as saying: "I hate pride and arrogance." Proverbs 11:2 proclaims, "When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." Proverbs 12:10 adds, "Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice." And most of us are familiar with the words of Proverbs 16:18: "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall."

Let me see.God hates it, it brings disgrace, it breeds quarrels, and it points us to destruction like a compass needle seeking north. Obadiah 1:3 caps it all off: "The pride of your heart has deceived you," the prophet wrote. And though you may dwell in the "clefts of the rocks" and "say to yourself, 'Who can bring me down'.'from there I will bring you down' declares the LORD," (Obad. 1:3-4). The first shove to move the obstacle of pride is to view it as the vicious enemy it is.

2. View humility as a friend. Often our society looks on biblical humility as a sign of weakness. Nothing could be further from the truth. Being filled with pride is easy. It comes naturally. Humility takes a supply of supernatural strength that comes only to those who are strong enough to admit weakness.

Scripture only occasionally repeats itself, but you glimpse the value of humility in that both James and Peter quoted Proverbs 3:34, that "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5).

The prophet Isaiah quoted God, saying, "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit" (Isa. 57:15). And God said, "This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word" (Isa. 66:2). Can you imagine being one whom God esteems? What a wonderful thought! To remove the obstacle of pride we must view it as a bitter enemy and view humility as a dear friend.

3. Humble yourself before God. James 4:10 and 1 Peter 5:6 plainly tell us to humble ourselves. You see, humility is not something we have until humbling ourselves is something we do. This step necessitates action before possession. Humbling ourselves certainly does not mean hating ourselves. Humility can be rather easily attained by simply opening our eyes to reality. Just read a few chapters of Scripture boasting in the greatness of God; Job 38 is one of my favorites.

We do not have to hate ourselves to see how small we are and to respond appropriately by bowing down before Him. In a nutshell, that's what humbling ourselves before God means: bowing down before His majesty. We don't have to hang our heads in self-abasement to humble ourselves. We simply must choose to lower our heads from lofty, inappropriate places. We choose to humble ourselves by submitting to His greatness every day.

The last sentence in Daniel 4:37 provides one of the most effective motivations for humility in my personal life: "Those who walk in pride He is able to humble."

I look at it this way: I'd rather humble myself than force God to humble me. Let's allow the circumstances and weaknesses, and any thorns in the flesh God has chosen to leave, to do the job they were sent to do—provoke humility. Not so we can be flattened under God's doormat, but so He can joyfully lift us up.

Take a moment today to find a private place, get down on your knees, and humble yourself before your glorious God. The hosts of heaven are sure to hear a thunderous rumble as boulders of pride roll off our road to freedom.

*John Bartlett, Emily Morison Beck, ed., Bartlett's Familiar Quotations (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1980), 332.

Adapted from Breaking Free, by Beth Moore, pages 59-63. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2000. Used by permission.