The futility of human pride

I’ve been studying the book of Proverbs a lot lately.  There are several topics that are repeated numerous times (for instance, the vital characteristic of wisdom) but one topic that presents itself a lot is the futility of human pride.  There are blunt words on the subject, just consider these verses.

-  “He [that is, God] mocks proud mockers, but gives grace to the humble.” (Proverbs 3:34) 

-  “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2)

-  “The Lord detests all the proud of heart.  Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished. (Proverbs 16:5)

-  “Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.” (Proverbs 18:12)

-  “Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin!” (Proverbs 21:4)

As you might imagine, there are a lot more than just these five I’ve quoted.  In fact, I’ve only scratched the surface.  When I first started collecting my thoughts for this particular blog, I was tempted to quote them all, but the point is made just with these few.

The question is this: why is pride viewed in such a negative light in the book of Proverbs (and in various other places in the Bible)?  C.J. Mahaney is his phenomenal book “Humility: True Greatness” puts it quite well when he writes, “The proud person  seeks to glorify himself and not God, thereby attempting in effect to deprive God of something only He is worthy to receive.”  What a statement!  Let that soak in for a moment.

Obviously the opposite of pride is humility.  This is a trait that is somewhat misunderstood.  For instance, some live as if humility means to verbally talk yourself down, and belittle yourself.  That is not humility!  As I see it, humility is to simply boast of God rather than to boast of yourself.  Thus we don’t go around saying, “Look at me and see how great I am.”  Rather we say, “Look at God and see how great He is.”  I think we can still comment that we have gifts and abilities, but we know that God is the one that gave us those gifts and that keeps us from flaunting ourselves. 

Kevin