The Severest of All Sins

The Severest of All Sins (Proverbs 8:13)

Proverbs 8:13, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.”

In his day, Charles Spurgeon was probably the most famous preacher in the world. The crowds of people who wanted to hear him preach were so large that before the church was able to erect a building with enough seating, they rented the Royal Surrey Music Hall which seated ten thousand people. For a number of years, tickets were required to get in to hear Spurgeon preach. The story is told that a visitor from America, eager to hear the famous “prince of preachers,” convinced a friend to get a ticket for him. After the message concluded, the American stood in the vestibule of the church talking to his English friend. He did not know that Spurgeon was standing nearby listening. The Englishman asked what his friend thought of the service, and he replied, “What a preacher!” According to the story, Spurgeon began to weep. A church member asked him what was wrong and Spurgeon said, “I wish he had said, ‘What a Saviour!’”

Pride is a sin that those who have it assume they don't. Pride can blind someone and cause them to ignore even the toughest of warnings. Pride places us on a dangerous path, and it harms our relationships with God. James 4:6, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” When we humbly acknowledge Him as the source of all of the good things we have and do, we continue to receive His grace to help us deal with the challenges and temptations of life. Proverbs 6:16, “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him.” God hates this sin above all others because it describes people who are so full of pride it shows in their eyes. Pride heads the list of the seven sins God hates most because it is the severest of all sins.

I. Pride’s Description.
Pride is the worst of all sins because it is the original sin. Pride is not self-esteem; we need self-esteem, and should have it. Pride is arrogance, or having an exaggerated opinion of one’s self. "Prideful" is the one word that best describes Satan. Because of pride, Satan, then Lucifer, led a rebellion against God in Heaven (Isaiah 14). In Luke 10:18, Jesus describes the swift outcome of that rebellion in as a flash of lightning as God defeated Satan.

II. Pride’s Danger.
Pride causes all kinds of problems in life and hurts us in three ways:

1. Pride hurts us spiritually. According to Proverbs 16:5, “Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.” There is only one cause for not being close to God, and that is pride. Notice that the middle letter in the words "pride" and "sin?" When we have an "I" problem, it pushes us away from God. Another word for pride is "ego," which someone has said stands for "edging God out."
   
2. Pride hurts us relationally. Pride is the basic cause of conflict in relationships. We are reminded of this fact in Proverbs 13:10, “Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.”
   
3. Pride hurts us emotionally. Pride causes us to always try to look successful to impress others. Pride makes us want to keep up with the Joneses at all costs. Therefore, pride keeps us all stressed-out and miserable.

III. Pride’s Destruction.
To motivate us to rid ourselves of the sin of pride, Proverbs 18:12 reminds us, “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility.” Only one thing can destroy pride in our lives, and that is humility. Humility can push pride out of our hearts. But how do we become humble? We must do at least three things.

1. Recognize pride in our lives. We are amazingly blind to pride in our own lives. Arrogant people don't know they have a problem with pride. Because our hearts are so deceitful, we need to pray according to Psalm 139:23, “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” To recognize pride in our lives, we must ask God to show us any signs of pride in our lives, and then confess it as sin.
   
2. Remember the Source of all our blessings. Everything you and I have comes from God.
   
3. Replace selfishness with service. The best way to eradicate pride is to get involved in serving others.

We can have victory over pride when we compare our inflated thinking with reality.
Reality check 1: The moment we are not willing to accept Godly correction, we are in a dangerous spot.
Reality check 2: We are not that important – God created us from dust.
Reality check 3: Our opinions mean very little – only God’s opinion matters.
Reality check 4: We have no accomplishments without God.
Reality check 5: The praise of others does not define how valuable we are – only what God says about us counts.

Examples of pride:
Devil (Isaiah 14:12-15; 1 Timothy 3:6)
Cain (Genesis 4)
Pharaoh (Exodus 5-14)
Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4)
Haman (Esther 5:9-17)
Herod (Acts 12:21-23)
Diotrephes (III John 9-10)
Antichrist (II Thessalonians 2:4)

How do we know if we have pride? Here are some helpful questions for us to consider:
How quickly do I admit I was wrong? Is it difficult for me to accept correction?
Does being seen or heard by others make me feel good?
Do I often talk about myself and my opinions to others?
Do I brag about my accomplishments or do things so others will notice me?
Do I rely upon the acceptance of others to give me self-worth?
Do you see yourself as better than others?
Are you focused on getting people to like you?
If we answered yes to any of these questions, then we have a pride problem.
Concentrate on reality – on God, others, and yourself.
Your ego will deflate, and you will be an effective witness for Christ.

Prayer, Father in Heaven, too often I have knowingly and ignorantly come against Your will and Your ways. Open my eyes to the blessings of humility. Let me view it in its beauty and fullness of joy not as the world sees it. While I desire a life of godly humility, pride pulls hard to overpower me. In my warfare against pride, help me to fight against ego and the flesh as I pursue humility. Your Son left the pleasures of heaven for a life of service on earth. He gave His life for ungodly, ungrateful and undeserving people. Help me have His attitude, remembering that You resist the proud and give grace to the humble. In Jesus name, Amen!

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