“ Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. “ Proverbs 16:18 (KJV)
Self-aggrandizement is when one makes himself/herself greater, or highly important than others. It is when we are full of ourselves and are unwilling to learn from others. It is when we overly pride ourselves with our achievements or accolades and our connections. To simply put, it is known as pride. Pride makes us overly dependent on the arm of flesh. Pride makes us to disregard instructions from God.
Pride is made up of simple five letter words but it has great catastrophic consequences. Pride is no respecter of persons, whether we are humans or angels. When it creeps into us, the value of its consequence are still the same. Archangels have lost their place, Kings have lost their thrones, Great Nations have been brought down to their knees, Great Inventions have sunk in the depths of the ocean, Rich men have moved to rags, Great men and women of God have moved from grace to grass and Great Talents have been swallowed by untimely deaths; all these were precipitated by pride.
From the above scripture, it is clear that every destruction or fall in life are engineered by pride. If we are to chronicle all the falls in the history of divinity and humanity, pride caused 99.99%. Pride is a very creepy attitude that infiltrates into our desires. Once it gets in there, it slowly spread and takes over our lives without noticing just like viral infection or cancer. It clouds our sense of judgement, making us to feel that we are the most important person and everyone else is inferior to us.
But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. James 4:6, KJV. (Emphasis added)
There is nothing worse than to have God oppose you. When Satan becomes our opponent, with the help of God we can overcome him. But when God is the one opposing us, to whom will we run for help. Pride has the proclivity to make us the enemy of God. Therefore, we must try not to cross His path with our pride.
A man’s pride and sense of self-importance will bring him down, But he who has a humble spirit will obtain honor. Proverbs. 29:23, AMP,(Emphasis added)
From the above scripture it is clearly established that pride will definitely bring us down. One may ask how can we deal with this spirit of pride? It is not enough to pray and fast in our battle against pride. We must also consciously desire to seek humility and avail ourselves by yielding to the leading of the Holy Spirit. With this practice, we can overcome.
Pray with me
Lord Jesus, I ask for forgiveness for having offended You with my pride. I repent and surrender my ego, my will, my life to You. Fill me with your Holy Spirit to help me pursue humility. Prompt me anytime I deviate from the path of humility. May your name be glorified and honored in my life. This I pray in Jesus precious name! Amen!
Author: REV. SOLOMON KWAME LUTTERODT
