Pride Leads to Destruction

How many times have you heard people talking about living their truth or bragging about what they’ve accomplished?  If you listen to some people, you’d think they had it all together and never had any issues.  They sound super confident and if a problem does arise, they are going to solve it all on their own. 

I almost feel sorry for those people.  How much pressure must you be under to have to proclaim your own glory?  I’ve often thought about the self-worth of someone who feels they have to impress others all the time.  Who are they trying to impress?  Why?  What’s wrong with admitting we have problems and can’t do everything ourselves?  What pedestal have people placed themselves on that no one can know their frailties and failures?  The fear and anxiety of having to be right or “on” all the time to please or impress others must be overwhelming at times. 

I sometimes find myself in the posture of wanting things to be perfect and wanting to perform for people to see.  Thankfully, those times are fewer and fewer.  I have to remind myself that my life belongs to God because Jesus paid a price for it and bought me out of the bondage to sin and death (1 Cor 6:20). I don’t have to impress other people.  My purpose is to be obedient to the will of God and to act in order to fulfill His good pleasure (Phil 2:13) as He works in me.   

I’ve been blessed beyond anything I would have imagined as a child.  I had no idea or inclination I could do half the things I’ve done in my lifetime, but God is faithful and He has blessed me.  Yes, I played a part in it, but God deserves the credit for it.  I did the work He led me to do to the best of my ability, but He gave me the wisdom and knowledge to pull it off, like getting a college degree in engineering.  In some cases, He gave me the strength and will to build the stamina to do something, like walking a half marathon in just over 3.5 hours. In some cases, He gave me the courage to ask for things I wanted to experience, like asking for an internship while I was in grad school with a company that didn’t even have an internship program.  In some cases, He gave me a spirit of adventure, like going to Texas by myself during the summer to work for a company after my first year of college.  In all of these instances and so many more, He provided the opportunity and opened doors so I could obediently walk through them.  I celebrated these times and still do.  We can and should celebrate our achievements and opportunity, but we must sincerely give God credit and glory for them as He gave us our gifts and talents (Prov. 18:15-16).  Achievement would not be possible without Him.

The bible says we have not because we ask not.  This is where pride hurts us most.  Pride says we don’t need to ask.  We can do “it” on our own.  Pride flies in the very face of who God is.  Anyone who’s honest with themselves fully understands that we can do nothing without God’s intervention (John 15:5).  He owns everything (Exodus 19:5).  It is only through Christ that we can only do all things (Phil 4:13). 

If you want God’s full blessing on your life (you’re blessed just to be breathing), humility and obedience are key.  God loves us! Yes, He does! But, a relationship with Him is necessary if we want the full richness and abundance of life.  We cannot obtain it separate and apart from Him, not matter how good we think we are (Romans 12:3).  The fact is we all have areas to improve because we are works in progress. Some people believe because they have money, they don’t need anything else.  They have just replaced God with the money and that is a dangerous thing.  Money can be made and lost or stolen.  God CANNOT.  If you belong to Him, He will never leave nor forsake you.  He provides the power to get wealth (Deut 8:18) – remember it’s just a tool to further His kingdom. 

This world is not ours, it’s His (Psalm 24:1).  When we start to think of it that way, we’ll treat it and each other better and get better results.  As long as we think we know better than Him, we will continue down the path of ruin.  Pride is a hurtful, damaging thing (Prov 16:18).  It will only lead to destruction. 

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