In (Psalm 10:4) we see why pride is such a devastating sin for we read: “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” Andrew Murray said it well when he shared: “Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you.”1
We can see why pride is so sinful when we understand just what it is. Pride is simply put rebellion against God in the sense that a person who is prideful is preoccupied with their own importance and achievements and instead of giving all the honor and glory to God alone, attributes the honor and glory to one’s self. In other words, a prideful heart presumes to possess excellence and glory that belong to God alone.
According to the website GotQuestions.org: “Pride is giving ourselves the credit for something that God has accomplished. Pride is taking the glory that belongs to God alone and keeping it for ourselves. Pride is essentially self-worship. Anything we accomplish in this world would not have been possible were it not for God enabling and sustaining us.”2
Perhaps more than any other issue pride keeps more people from coming to Jesus as Savior. For to admit that we are sinners and that in our own strength we can do nothing to earn our way back to God is something that prideful people have a very hard time doing.
Christianity is an amazingly wonderful and intellectually compelling worldview. And, its sourcebook, the Bible, has more historical, scientific, and prophetic evidences to validate its accuracy than any other religious sacred text around. Many people believe that in order to come to Christ we must give up our rational way of thinking and believe in fables and fairytales. But this is far from the case as so many of my apologetic devotions have shown over the past two plus years. In fact, in the words of R. C. Sproul: “You don’t have to give up your intellect to trust the Bible. You have to give up your pride.”3
Fortunately, as Christians, we have a powerful weapon that when consistently used can dispatch the Holy Spirit to convict sinners of the great pride that so often keeps them in spiritual bondage to coming to faith in the gospel. And this weapon, my friends, is fervent believing prayer. I am convinced that the combination of sharing the gospel message, along with fervent prayers for conviction of sin, can break down the pride that so many rebels against God harbor in their hearts.
While pride keeps souls in bondage to Satan, prayer is the most powerful bondage breaker I know of. While it’s great to relax in our living rooms, the battle for the eternal souls of the lost will never be won on the couch, but in your prayer closet. If you haven’t developed a vibrant and consistent prayer life I implore you to start today and watch how God moves, to not only root out pride in our own hearts, but in the hearts of the lost!
1 Inspirational Quotes on Pride (bibleportal.com)