Some things in the Bible can be difficult to understand.
Yet many others are undeniably clear.
Among the most straightforward of these is the simple truth:
God hates pride and warns against it (Pr. 8:13).
God’s hostility to pride goes back to the beginning, when Adam rejected his design and tried to take the place of His Creator (Gen. 3).
We also see God’s disgust over pride in the way He humbled proud Nebuchadnezzar, reducing him to live as an animal (Dan. 4:28 ff.)
And then, of course, the Bible has plenty of explicit statements about pride, like these…
“When pride comes, then comes disgrace…” (Pr. 11:2).
“The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled)” (Isa. 2:12).
“God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Jas. 4:6).
Taking into account God’s position against pride, two conclusions are obvious.
1) Christians ought to make every effort to avoid any hint of pride in their lives.
And instead, humbly serve God in a way that builds up others in the truth, for the growth of His kingdom.
2) Christians ought to avoid encouraging others to defy God by celebrating pride.
There is no love or kindness in emboldening others to partake in what their Creator is against.
Especially since pride leads to destruction (Pr. 16:18).
Put another way…
There is nothing to celebrate about pride.
Now Jesus coming to deliver us proud sinners–
That’s something to celebrate!
