A.W. Tozer once said that “The proud man cannot worship God any more than the proud devil can worship God.” Pride is a relationship killer. When we love someone, we make everything about them. Pride makes everything about us. The only relationship that thrives in the midst of pride is the narcissistic one we have with ourselves. If we would follow Christ with all of our hearts then we must love as He did (John 15:12). We must be humble as He was. There is no room for pride in our relationship with God. We’ve got to let go of every feeling of self-sufficiency and rely fully on His character and promise of provision (Matthew 6:25-34).
In Proverbs 16:18, we are wisely warned that pride goes before a fall. The quickest way to fail in any endeavor is to believe that it will succeed based on your own talents and ingenuity. Everything we have is from God. Every talent, every skill, indeed our very ability to think; it’s all from Him. We are truly nothing in and of ourselves. If you need proof, look around the world today. Observe what man has done on his own, apart from the power of God. We make a mess. We destroy, not create. We invoke hatreds, jealousies, and deceptions. Without God there is no love.
Pride makes us less attractive. Do you really enjoy hanging around people who are obsessed with themselves? The reason such behavior is repulsive to us is because it is contrary to the beautiful character of God. Since we were created in God’s image, we crave things that look like Him and are compelled to revile those things that do not. Lucifer is and was the poster child for pride. Despite occupying an exalted position with his Creator, he considered himself greater than God. He thought he could do it better than God, that he had a better plan and a better way.
Don’t we all exhibit Satan’s behavior in our daily lives? Haven’t you at one point or the other made statements of how the boss, or the Mayor, or the President has no idea what they’re doing? We know if we were in their position, we could do it better. This is the behavior Satan modeled when he let pride get in the way of serving the One in authority over him. Instead of gently pointing the way to the truth as Jesus did, we follow the example of the deceiver instead.
If we want to be in close relationship with Christ, we must let it all go. We have to surrender everything and admit we can’t do it on our own. We don’t have a better plan. We must acknowledge that every good thing that comes our way is a blessing of God and not the result of our own genius. The very skill in which you feel pride was gifted to you by Jesus so that you might use it for His glory. Let’s stop pretending we have a clue. We are nothing without Christ. He is everything and all that we need. Serve God. Live humbly. Destroy any sense of pride and worship Him.