Pride - the mother of all sins
The Puritan George Swinnock said; ‘Pride is the shirt of the soul, put on first and put off last.’ John Boys adds; ‘As death is the last enemy; so pride is the last sin that shall be destroyed in us.’ How true! In fact pride never surrenders but keeps fighting on till the day we die. The truth is that none of us can fully eradicate pride but by God's grace we can, and should, bring it into submission.
The nature of pride
- Pride was the first sin committed, it lies lowest in the foundation of Satan's whole building, and is with the greatest difficulty rooted out.
- Pride is the mother and mistress of all the sins; for where she does not conceive them in her ever-teeming womb, she instigates their movements, and compels them to pay tribute to her glory.
- Pride is the most hidden, secret, and deceitful of all lusts and often creeps insensibly into the midst of religion, even, sometimes, under the disguise of humility itself!
The effects of pride
If there is a sin that is universal, it is pride. We have to admit that every one of us has some measure of pride. Unfortunately in some people it is left unchecked and so it becomes worse and excessive. It ends up governing all their decisions and directs everything they do. It sours all their relationships; making them unable to love others and preventing them from receiving love and affection. In the end pride will ruin them and all that they do. The Bible reminds us that; ‘In his pride the wicked does not seek Him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God. (Ps. 10:4) and also ‘God opposes the proud.’ (James 4:6)
Pride sets itself against the honor, being, and sovereignty of God. Other sins strike at the word of God, the people of God, and the creatures of God but pride strikes directly at the very being of God. Grace can never thrive where pride and self-conceit grow. If you would see the devil portrayed to the life look upon a proud soul; for as face answers to face, so does a proud soul answer to Satan.
- Pride exaggerates everything, especially our good points and other people’s faults.
- Pride deceives us by making excuses for us especially for our own weaknesses.
- Pride makes us compare ourselves with those whom we think are worse than us and makes us despise them.
- Pride convinces us that others are to blame for all our ills.
- Pride brings disgrace (Prov. 11:2), breeds quarrels (Prov. 13:10), brings a man low and comes before his fall (Prov. 16:18). A mother whale said to her baby whale, “When you get to the surface and start to blow, that’s when you get harpooned."
- Pride eats at the root of all happiness.
- Pride slays thanksgiving.
- God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves and therefore pride 'prevents' God from blessing us.
- Pride also makes us forget our Lord (Deut. 8:14)
A number of symptoms of pride
The following are some symptoms of pride. In prayerfully considering them you can be helped to expose this malady. Personal application is what we recommend, reminding you that the reason for this short article is that YOU will take time to meditate upon what you read asking the Lord to reveal to you if any of these symptoms are present in your life. Pray that the Blessed Spirit might enlighten ‘the eyes of your mind’ enabling you to see clearly; especially since where pride is present it blinds us to our imperfections and failures and prevents us from seeing those things which are wrong with us, dulling our senses and concealing so much of what is really present in our life.
A person controlled by pride...
- Is arrogant, resents authority and accountability and is not submissive. He thinks he knows it all and doesn’t like correction.
- Repentance is a work so simple yet it is so difficult to a person ruled by pride since he doesn’t want to seriously repent; because in doing this he will be admitting that he was wrong and mistaken in the past.
- Is seldom a grateful man, convinced that he never gets as much as he deserves, and very rarely does he praise others, since pride takes all and credits no one else.
- Is very moody, sensitive and is disappointed when he is not ‘pampered’ by those around him/her.
- Is extremely tenacious of his opinions and impatient of any contradiction, as if to differ from him is a major crime.
- Has an unduly exalted opinion of himself. He/she is, therefore, impatient of a rival, hates a superior, and cannot endure a master.
- Demands a superior place, he needs praise, needs to be noticed, needs promotion and must have first place.
- Feels a constant necessity to oppose, criticize and condemn.
- Has no room for God since he is full of himself.
- Pride, unlike all the other vices which choose to be in the dark, loves always to be seen in the light and so the proud person is always demanding a superior place needing to be noticed and praised. ‘He loves to climb up’ says William Gurnall, ‘not as Zaccheus to see Christ, but to be seen.’
Spiritual pride is the most dangerous and the most arrogant of all sorts of pride. To be proud of . . .
. . . this is the worst kind of pride, most offensive to God, most injurious to our own soul, and most obstructive to usefulness. You can see the evidence of spiritual pride in such as are controlled by it by their; "Stand by; I am holier than thou," written across their foreheads. Such people might be serving God, and the work may be God's, but they do it not for God but for themselves.
- our piety,
- our spiritual experience,
- our prayerfulness,
- our commitment,
- our knowledge of the Bible,
- our zeal,
- our talents and spiritual gifts,
- our usefulness
The remedy against pride
The above are only a few symptoms of this malady. C. H Spurgeon said: 'There are some weeds that will grow anywhere; and one of them is Pride. Pride will grow on a rock as well as in a garden. It is a weed that is dreadfully rampant. It needs cutting down every week, or else we should stand up to our knees in it.'
Pride is the last sin which dies, and expires only with the life of the believer. Through our whole pilgrimage we have to contend against spiritual pride, in all its deceitful and multiplied forms. Self love, self seeking, self will, self confidence, self righteousness, all spring from pride. There is no end to this extensive evil, which infects the hearts of men, and fills the earth with misery.
Friend, never think that you have escaped from pride; if you do so it is only because you have lost the sense of its weight through being surrouded with it.
Remember that ber pride is a groundless thing. You have reasons for everything, but you have no reasons for pride. Pride is a thing which should be unnatural to you, for you have nothing to be proud of. What is there in man of which he should glory? Our very creation is enough to humble us; what are we but creatures of to-day? Our frailty should be sufficient to lay us low, for we shall be gone tomorrow. The Talmund has an interesting statement which says: "Why was man created on the sixth day? To teach him that if he is ever swollen with pride, it can be said: A flea came ahead of thee in Creation."
Remember that ber pride is a groundless thing. You have reasons for everything, but you have no reasons for pride. Pride is a thing which should be unnatural to you, for you have nothing to be proud of. What is there in man of which he should glory? Our very creation is enough to humble us; what are we but creatures of to-day? Our frailty should be sufficient to lay us low, for we shall be gone tomorrow. The Talmund has an interesting statement which says: "Why was man created on the sixth day? To teach him that if he is ever swollen with pride, it can be said: A flea came ahead of thee in Creation."
Be convinced that the one effective remedy against pride is a genuine, personal and intimate relationship with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, sustained primarily by daily prayer and Bible reading and by regular participation in those means of grace appointed by God for your edification. The best cure for pride is a sight of Christ because pride cannot live beneath the cross!
Christian soldier, commit yourself to a lifelong struggle to crucify this corruption within which is ‘disfiguring’ your personality and is spoiling you as a Christian. May our Lord give you the grace you need.
"The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,
and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day."
Isaiah 2:11