Luke 11:43

Pride is aptly described as an insidious monster taking captive its prey unaware and leading them down the path of destruction. Believer, beware! Jesus comes down hard on the Pharisees lofty attitude of themselves. As the religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees were held to an even higher standard. They were those to whom the Israelites looked as their examples to follow. It is no wonder Jesus blasts them for their poor behavior. We find His words in Matthew getting right to the heart of the exact same issue:5 "Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7 they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.' Matt 23:5-7 (NIV) 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 13 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Matt 23:11-13 (NIV) Pride, Scripture tells us, God hates and rightly so: 13 To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Prov 8:13 (NIV) I love what Paul tells the Corinthians: 7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? 1 Cor 4:6-7 (NIV) Humility is the only acceptable posture for human flesh. Lest we begin to think too much of ourselves, Jesus describes to us in the Sermon on the Mount just a few of our many inabilities – we cannot turn even a hair white or black (except, of course, from a bottle!) or add a single hour to our lives. Job also was shown by God, no less, his true essence of “dust and ashes” in light of the great “I AM”. The last five chapters of Job are well worth our reading if we begin to sense pride creeping in our lives! They start out with God asking Job the following question: 1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm. He said: 2 "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? 3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you,
and you shall answer me. Job 38:1-3 (NIV) Then God begins the long list of where were you when I did...to which Job had no response except to repent in dust and ashes! This is a good point for us to ponder. Pride is even more repugnant among the religious circles. I ran across a quote from Oswald Chambers nailing this point: “The true character of the loveliness that speaks for God is always unnoticed by the one possessing that quality. Conscious influence is prideful and unchristian. If I wonder if I am being of any use to God, I instantly lose the beauty and the freshness of the touch of the Lord. ‘He who believes in Me...out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’ (John 7:38). And if I examine the outflow, I lose the touch of the Lord. Who are the people who have influenced us most? Certainly not the ones who thought they did, but those who did not have even the slightest idea that they were influencing us. In the Christian life, godly influence is never conscious of itself. If we are conscious of our influence, it ceases to have the genuine loveliness which is characteristic of the touch of Jesus. We always know when Jesus is at work because He produces in the commonplace something that is inspiring.” 2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Prov 11:2 (NIV)23 A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor. Prov 29:23 (NIV) “Beware of any belief that makes you self-indulgent or self-gratifying; that belief came from the pit of hell itself, regardless of how beautiful it may sound.” Oswald Chambers