We have all been around people that are constantly talking about their accomplishments. It gets old quickly! There is a danger even among eminent Christians to yield to the sin of pride. It is a subtle, deceptive, sin that lurks around the heart, and seeks an entrance to feed the ego. Spiritual pride is the most secret of all sins because it will cause our own hearts to deceive us.
Jerimiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
It lies deep within the heart and masks itself as good. There is a constant danger in our lives to take the credit and seek accolades for something that should be attributed to God alone. At the fall of man, pride was the featured sin. The serpent convinced Eve that God did not want them to eat of the tree because it would open their eyes and they would be as gods. Pride was in Satan’s heart when he caused a war in Heaven because he wanted to usurp God’s authority.
To be spiritually proud is just as much a sin as any other sin. We talk about how blessed we are that our children serve the Lord, or how great our church is compared to others. We brag about a person’s singing or preaching. We brag about our faithfulness to church, and the good deeds we do for others. These are things that should be done, and we should do even more, but when we tell others in a way to make them think highly of us it is sin.
The sin we are committing, we are robbing God of the glory only he is due. All these things that I mentioned as examples are situations that God allowed. We could not be faithful if God did not give us the health to do so. Our children could not be successful serving the Lord if God had not dealt with their hearts. I realize we have choices to make in all these situations, but even that is due to the grace of God. If we wish to compliment our children on how we feel about things they do, would it not be better to say, “I am very blessed because you are following God, or God blessed me through your voice this morning?”
Spiritual pride also finds fault with other believers. It is so easy for them to see all the sins of other saints while ignoring their own. A person of humility will see the sin, realize it could be him, and will reach out in love to bring those that are wrong to the light. A spiritually proud person gloats and puts down those who have a speck in their eye while he has the beam in his.
If any man by the world’s standards had qualifications to boast, it would be the Apostle Paul. In Philippians 3:4-7, he states his credentials as a Jew. He was circumcised on the eighth day, which was a command to all Jewish males, he was of the right stock, a descendant of Israel or rather Jacob. He was of the tribe of Benjamin, and a Hebrew of Hebrews. He was a Pharisee and a persecutor of those who claimed that Jesus was the Messiah. He says that if any man thinks he has something to brag about he has more. In other words. He was the elite of the Jews.
In II Corinthians 12:6-7 he begins by stating that his flesh would desire to glory, but he will not because that would make him a fool. Nor does he want others to think of him more highly than they ought to. In verse 7, he says that God gave him “a thorn in the flesh,” to keep him humble.
II Corinthians 12:6-7 “For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.”
Paul had determined that God would not remove this handicap of sorts because he wanted to keep him humble. When reading about Paul and the positions he held before he was saved, it is only natural to think he was probably a very proud man. This, like any other inward sin, must be dealt with our entire life. It will always be sitting low in our hearts, and Satan will use it as ammunition any opportunity we give him. We must remember the verses Paul penned in Philippians 2:4 “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.”
I love what the great preacher Jonathan Edwards wrote on this subject. “The first and worst cause of errors that abound in our day and age is spiritual pride. This is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those who are zealous for the advancement of Christ. It is the chief inlet of smoke from the bottomless pit to darken the mind and mislead the judgment.”
