Pride Goeth Before the Fall
For 13 years, I served in the Kentucky General Assembly, and repeatedly I would hear other legislators say, “I am a proud Democrat” or “I am a proud Republican.” That statement always sat wrong with me because I was taught from an early age that we should not be prideful about ourselves or our abilities. Confident, yes, but prideful? No!
There’s a humility that a Christian should always exhibit, regardless of their capabilities or their giftedness, because all of these gifts come from God. Christians, in our humility, serve Christ and are willing servants. So, such exhibitions of pride sit wrong with me. And so, I’ve taught myself, my children, and my family not to be prideful.
And yet, right now, America has dedicated an entire month to pride — a sin which is absolutely abhorrent to God — and sexual immorality which has been declared to be an abomination in the Word of God (Gen. 2:24; Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Mat. 5:28; Rom. 1:24-27; 1 Cor. 5:1-5; 6:9-10; 1 Tim. 1:9-10; Heb. 13:4).
Contrast this attitude of pride with the humility of Jesus Christ. When Jesus first came, He came lowly as a servant. Jesus said: “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Mat. 11:28-29 NASB).
Jesus is gentle and humble. Paul’s letter to the Church of Philippi records it this way: “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bond-servant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name” (Phil. 2:5-9).
Our great God and Savior — who sits at the right hand of the Father and who has existed for all of eternity — emptied Himself and humbled Himself. In so doing, Jesus demonstrated the right attitude that we as Christians should take, and as mature adult human beings, quite frankly.
And yet, the world wants to elevate pride. And, what’s it so proud of right now? It is proud of its LGBTQ+ agenda.
If you go to Wikipedia and look up the definition of pride, it notes that pride is the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins. It is the most demonic out of all other sins and stands as the source of all other capital sins. Pride also equates to hubris, which is an excessive arrogance or audacity, especially before a holy God.
Proverbs 16:18 in the King James version says that “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
Consider what Jesus said in Matthew 11 to the cities where He was ministering, in Chorazin and Bethsaida and Capernaum. The upper Galilee region was the very headquarters of Christ’s ministry. He said that it would be worse for them than for the wickedly evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah on the Day of Judgment because those three cities had witnessed Christ’s blessing. They had experienced Christ’s own ministry first-hand, and yet they rejected Jesus. Sodom and Gomorrah were judged with fire. God’s wrath was poured out on them. But, Jesus declared He will be easier on the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah than these three cities that had witnessed and understood the truth of what Jesus Himself revealed, but had rejected.
How much worse will the United States be judged for our embracing pride and an abomination instead of staying true to the Word of God?
In 1964, a songwriter named Hamilton Camp wrote a great song titled “The Pride of Man.” It was later sung by Gordon Lightfoot. In it, he sang, “Oh God, the pride of Man, broken in the dust again.”
This age-old cycle of man — turning his back on God, shaking his fist in arrogant pride — is exactly what led to the downfall of Satan and why it is a satanic effort to perpetuate pride in the hearts of men.
The LGBTQ+ community in appropriating the rainbow — God’s sign that He would never again flood the earth to punish mankind for their sins — has to be especially offensive to our Holy God. Why? Because in Genesis, God set up the rainbow as a sign of His “…covenant which I am making between me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations” (Gen. 9:12-13). God added, “I set My [God’s] bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of covenant between Me and the Earth.”
This very symbol — the rainbow — has been appropriated by the prideful to stand for what God calls an abomination. Such an action has to be an affront, an absolute insult added to injury, to our Holy God.
Jesus came to die to pay the debt for all of our sins, so it is not my intention to pick out anyone as more worthy or needy of the grace of God. All of us have fallen short and need to repent and humble ourselves before God and accept His free gift of salvation (Rom. 3:23; 5:8; 10:9-10).
Still, we must remember — pride will lead to destruction. James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5 says that Christ gives a greater grace, so while He is opposed to the proud, He will grant grace to the humble.
We know that in the fullness of time, God will pour out His wrath on all of those who have rejected His Son and stood on their own human pride. The great prophet Isaiah records: “For the Lord of armies will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is arrogant and haughty, and against everyone who is lifted up, that he may be brought low” (Isa. 2:12).
Folks, judgment is coming! The wrath of God hangs over the heads of all who have rejected Jesus Christ. Don’t stand on your pride rejecting the salvation of God, rather, humble yourselves. Come to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
Jesus is coming soon, that we can be assured. He is bringing glorious, eternal joy to all of those who have put their trust in Him. But, if you have rejected Jesus, if you are full of pride, then the wrath of God still abides on you (Jn. 3:36). I pray that you will humble yourselves before our great God and Savior who is soon returning to judge the world of its pride and sin.
