What is Pride?
Do we have pride? Should we check to see if we have any pride in us? What does God’s word say about “pride”. Is it ok to be proud of someone or some things? The Webster’s dictionary defines the word pride like this:
Definition: Pride
1:the quality or state of being proud: as…a:inordinate self-esteem,conceitb:a reasonable or justifiable self-respect.c:delight or elation arising from some act, possession, or relationship <parental pride2:proud or disdainful behavior or treatment.3.ostentatious display 4:a company of lions.
Let’s take a look at EVERY time the Bible uses pride {49 in all} and see what we come up with. If we were to search “proud”, there are 35 more!
1 Samuel 2:3Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
2 Chronicles 26:16 But when he was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense
2 Chronicles 32:26 But Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah.
Job 22:29 For when they are humbled you say, ‘It is because of pride’; but he saves the lowly.
Job 33:17 that he may turn man aside from his deed and conceal pride from a man;
Job 35:12 There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil men.
Job 40:12Look on everyone who is proud and bring him low and tread down the wicked where they stand.
Job 41:34 He sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride.”
Psalm 10:4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”
Psalm 31:18 Let the lying lips be mute, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt.
Psalm 31:23 Love the Lord, all you his saints! The Lord preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
Psalm 47:4 He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah
Psalm 59:12 For the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips, let them be trapped in their pride. For the cursing and lies that they utter,
Psalm 73:6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.
Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.
Proverbs 16:18Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Proverbs 21:24 “Scoffer” is the name of the arrogant, haughty man who acts with arrogant pride.
Proverbs 29:23 One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.
Psalm 40:4 Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie!
Psalm 94:2 Rise up, O judge of the earth; repay to the proud what they deserve!
Isaiah 2:12 For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up—and it shall be brought low;
Isaiah 2:11 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 2:17 And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.
Isaiah 4:2 In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel.
Isaiah 9:9-10 and all the people will know, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and in arrogance of heart: 10“The bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones; the sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.”
Isaiah 13:11 I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant, and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless.
Isaiah 23:9 The Lord of hosts has purposed it, to defile the pompous pride of all glory, to dishonor all the honored of the earth.
Isaiah 25:11 And he will spread out his hands in the midst of it as a swimmer spreads his hands out to swim, but the Lord will lay low his pompous pride together with the skill of his hands.
Jeremiah 13:9 “Thus says the Lord: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 13:17 But if you will not listen, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the Lord's flock has been taken captive.
Jeremiah 49:16 The horror you inspire has deceived you, and the pride of your heart, you who live in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill. Though you make your nest as high as the eagle's, I will bring you down from there, declares the Lord.
Jeremiah 50:29 “Summon archers against Babylon, all those who bend the bow. Encamp around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her according to all that she has done. For she has proudly defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
Ezekiel 7:10 “Behold, the day! Behold, it comes! Your doom has come; the rod has blossomed; pride has budded.
Ezekiel 7:20 His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. Therefore I make it an unclean thing to them.
Ezekiel 7:24 I will bring the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. I will put an end to the pride of the strong, and their holy places shall be profaned.
Ezekiel 16:49 Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.
Ezekiel 16:56 Was not your sister Sodom a byword in your mouth in the day of your pride,
Ezekiel 24:21 ‘Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the pride of your power, the delight of your eyes, and the yearning of your soul, and your sons and your daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the sword.
Ezekiel 32:12 I will cause your multitude to fall by the swords of mighty ones, all of them most ruthless of nations. “They shall bring to ruin the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude shall perish.
Daniel 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.
Hosea 5:5 The pride of Israel testifies to his face; Israel and Ephraim shall stumble in his guilt; Judah also shall stumble with them.
Hosea 7:10-11 The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him, for all this. 11Ephraim is like a dove, silly and without sense, calling to Egypt, going to Assyria.
Amos 6:8 The Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts: “I abhor the pride of Jacob and hate his strongholds, and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”
Amos 8:7 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob: “Surely I will never forget any of their deeds.
Obadiah 1:3 The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?”
Zephaniah 2:10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride, because they taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of hosts.
Zechariah 9:6 a mixed people shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of Philistia.
Zechariah 10:11 He shall pass through the sea of troubles and strike down the waves of the sea, and all the depths of the Nile shall be dried up. The pride of Assyria shall be laid low, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart.
Mark 7:20-2320And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him.21For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,22coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
1 Corinthians 15:31 I protest, brothers, by my pride in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die every day!
2 Corinthians 7:4 I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pridein you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.
Take a look at how in the “Book Of Job”, rebellious people (and or) angles are referred to as the “sons of pride”. Satan is synonymous with the word “pride”. Job 41:34. Are you following your pride as satan did and continues to do so?
Remember when Jesus rebukes Peter? Here is the scripture on this…
Matt 16:13-23
13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. 21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
Here we see that Peter could have been filled with self pride as Jesus exalts him. Then Peter, leaning on his own understanding, rebukes Jesus and becomes a “hindrance” to Jesus Christ. A result of pride?!
Is it not pride that causes us to defend our character before man, when in God’s eyes is all that really matters? Then we argue and fight to prove our innocence, our point, our understanding or our character. Pride results in division, wars, strife, envy, rebellion and more…! The battle is the Lord’s. (1 Sam 17) This is why it’s crucial to “turn the other cheek”. Let God defend your character!
Another example of pride is in the case where we refuse to ask for help when we KNOW in our hearts that we need it. A simple example of this is when we have too much pride to ask for directions when we know we are lost! Another is when we are trying to do something and are having a very difficult time or are simply failing at a task. We have too much pride and think we can do alone. The fact of the matter is this; Without Christ in us, satan and his temptations are beyond our ability to fight. Do we see ourselves in a particular temptation and DO NOT ask God to help us? This is a form of pride. Everyone wants to show others that they can do it, but here on this earth, in our current state, we MUST ask God to help us in Jesus name. God is glorified by us simply asking for help. It’s a form of being humble when we submit to God our Father. In all the scriptures above where pride is a negative, you can substitute satan for pride and it fits every time! Pride is a very serious issue. Keeping humble and learning to remain humble is critical if we are to grow in spiritually in Christ.
We see how serious and dangerous this can be. We all do have a potential for pride. We must rule over it and ask God to help us and keep us humble.
Is it not interesting that being humble is the antonym (opposite) of pride. So, in hind site, be humble at all times and in all things! Philippians 2:8 … James 4:10 … 1 Peter 5:5-6