Introduction
Pride is a spirit you do not want to associate yourself with. We know that with pride comes disgrace. This means you’re humbled by God. It’s very important for us to understand where Pride comes from and how to prevent it in our lives. God hates pride. He says it here: “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.” (Proverbs 8:13).
Definition of Pride
The word “Pride” comes from both Hebrew and Greek. For the first one, it’s Gā’ôn (גָּאוֹן), which means to grow up, rise, or swell, like the rising tide of a river or smoke lifting into the air. It brings the aspect of self-importance, seeing yourself above others. While in Greek the word is Huperephania (ὑπερηφανία), it’s a compound word combining huper (above/beyond) and phaino (to show or appear). Literally, it translates to showing oneself above. As you can see from the two languages, pride is defined the same.
Origin of Pride
In the following two scriptures, pride has been described vividly. We can start with this verse: Isaiah 14:12–14 describes Lucifer’s five “I will” statements, where he aimed to ascend above God: “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God… I will be like the Most High.” And also in Ezekiel 28:17 describes the internal cause of this fall: “Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.
Now let’s break some things down. You can see that Lucifer became proud because of his beauty. This shows he saw himself as better than others. This went so far that he overlooked God, saying, “… I will be like the Most High.” Something is interesting to know here. Look at the phrase, “…Your heart became proud”.
From the heart is where issues of life flow from. Here is the verse: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. (Proverbs 4:23). Jesus went further and talked about this by quoting this scripture: “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” (Matthew 15:18–19)
I also need you to watch this; he says it here: “…and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor.” On looking at the message bible. Here is what it says: “Your beauty went to your head. You corrupted wisdom by using it to get worldly fame.” This means that his brightness (from KJV) was distorted and ruined by his self-obsession. His intense focus on his own beauty made him turn against God. So, here we can say we have the heart and the mind getting corrupted. The heart represents desires and affections, while the mind handles reasoning and judgment.
How to know you have pride
You can have the spirit of pride and not know. Identifying it is so crucial. It’s said that it operates most of the time quietly. One of the ways to know is when you can’t receive correction from others. This means you have flaws, yet you’re blind to them. Look at this verse: “Who can discern his errors? Forgive me my hidden faults.” (Psalm 19:12). You have errors, yet you can’t discern them. This tells us that we need to continually re-evaluate ourselves. David says Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. (Psalm 139:23–24). Another way to know that you have pride comes from this scripture: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not from the Father but from the world. (1 John 2:15–16). Now this verse talks about several things. I want us to focus on the pride of life. Here we’re looking at social status, material possessions, achievements, or titles that may make you feel above other people.
Having these things is not a problem. However, we know that they can easily corrupt somebody’s mind. Your anchor should be on God. Remember the rich man who was told to sell all his properties but found it hard (Matthew 19:21–22). This is because he had attached himself to these things so much that he forgot his dependence should have been on God.
Ways to prevent pride
We saw the origin of pride coming from the heart. Jesus said, ” What comes out of a man is what defiles him. If we can stop that, then pride has no hold in our lives. Humility is key to overcoming pride. The bible says, “For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.“ (Matthew 23:12).
Conclusion
We’ve seen that pride is the root cause of all sins. You cannot be able to identify pride by yourself. Most of the time, it’s hidden. However, people around you can discern it. Also, God can reveal it to you through a revelation. Sometimes you can have pride disguised as fear of doing something you know you should do. You can help out somewhere, but you decide not to. Don’t pray to God to humble you, but as we said, let him search your heart. He says it here: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23–24)