God’s View of Pride
God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.
James 4:6
Why do you think God opposes those who are prideful? Could it be the prideful put themselves before God, or they do not depend on God, or maybe they are not thankful and don’t realize what they receive from God? From James 4:6 we see that pride is the opposite of humble.
A prideful person that God opposes is someone who takes credit for all their achievements and tries to stands tall and secure based on those achievements. Have you ever witnessed a person who said they don’t need God, they don’t need a crutch, they can take care of everything themselves? This is a prideful person in the eyes of God. God probably sees a prideful person as someone who is their own god. You shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:3) The god we put before the true God, is our self, and this is everyone’s spiritual war.
How do we overcome our worldly tendency to be prideful? When we have achieved something, give thanks to the Lord; give him the glory, and he gives us the blessing. The Lord wants us to feel content when we achieve something, because everything we achieve we do for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. (Colossians 3:23) We do everything for Christ, and the Lord helps us in our all our tasks. We give the glory to the Lord, and we are not boastful for ourselves but we are boastful for the Lord.
We always have to be on the alert because pride can easily slip into our lives. When we achieve something, it’s natural to feel pride because we did achieve the task. It takes the power of God to humble us and to realize that it is Christ through the Holy Spirit that enables our success. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5) God is molding us to have the mind of Christ, therefore our life points to Christ, bearing fruit with the Lord’s divine help. Bringing people to Christ makes us dependent on the Lord which makes us humble.
Today be aware if pride tries to sneak into your life. Seek to be humble, listening to others and encouraging them. Life is more fulfilling when we are humble and secure, with a goal of making people feel better about themselves.
Prayer: Lord, keep pride away from me today and have the Spirit convict me if pride appears. Help me to be secure in Christ and to be humble, walking in your strength and confidence. Guide me through the Spirit to people that need encouragement. In Jesus name, Amen