Most of you have heard that old cliché, “Pride comes before the fall.” According to scripture, “Pride goes before destruction and haughtiness before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18 TLB). Pride by itself is not a bad thing. We should be proud to be in the service of the Lord, but when our pride is combined with haughtiness, with arrogance, with conceit, with self-importance, then we end up heading in the wrong direction. We find in scripture that, “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts” (Psalm 10:4). To not seek after God, or to not have God in our thoughts is definitely not the path we should be following. But again, this is not to say that we should not be proud of who we are, as children of the most High God, or proud to be in his service.
We also see in scripture, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3). Do not overestimate yourself by thinking more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but in the same token, do not underestimate yourself by thinking lesser of yourself than you ought to. We should “think highly” of ourselves but to do so soberly, thoughtfully, and/or seriously, even as God, who is not a respecter of person (Romans 2:11), thinks of us, (Ephesians 4:24), which is free of arrogance, conceit, and self-importance. The righteousness of God should be cause enough for us to conduct ourselves appropriately and in humility without any haughtiness.
We pray that this inspirational message will be a blessing to you as well as informative. If blessed by this message please share so that others may be blessed as well. Amen.
Enjoy your blessings - KW
1 Cor 1:31 – so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
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