"The Prideful will fall"

I was reading Psalms...and came across these verses.

"Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are pure in heart. But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the boastful, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no pangs of their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men nor are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride serves as their necklace; violence covers them like a garment. Their eyes bulge with abundance; they have more than heart could wish. They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression; they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walks through the earth. Therefore his people return here, and waters of a full cup are drained by them. And they say, "How does God know? and is there knowledge in the Most High?" Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease; they increase in riches. Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I had said, “I will speak thus,” Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children. When I thought how to understand this, It was too painful for me— Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end. Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awakes, so, Lord, when You awake, You shall despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved, and I was vexed in my mind. I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You. Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For indeed, those who are far from You shall perish; You have destroyed all those who desert You for harlotry. But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all Your works." Psalm 73

Now I know it's a little bit long, but please read the whole chapter, it won't take but a minute. It made me think of the times I've seen people prosper with their life. They have just about anything they want, their life seems so care free and amazing! A closer look reveals pride, violence (whether it be physical or verbal,) and a habit of looking down on those "lesser" than they are. Now, I'm not saying all who are wealthy in some way or another fit into this category...but I'm sure at some point in all of our lives, we've envied those who would fit this. We see more material things than our heart could handle...and we start wishing we could trade places with them. The one thing we don't look at, though, is the fact that we are so far over them in wealth...we tend to forget all that God has promised us, because the "wealth" He has for us won't be on this earth (at least the kind that will satisfy us.) We have been given a promise of living for eternity, we already HAVE the most amazing thing in the world...in the entire creation of anything out there! Jesus Christ!

It's intriguing to read how many times the bible talks about pride. How much it can destroy us and take over us.

Here are a few verses:

"Though the Lord is on high, yet He regards the lowly; but the proud He knows from afar." -Psalm 138:6

"The Lord will destroy the house of the proud..." -Proverbs 15:25

"Everyone proud in hear is an abomination to the Lord; though they join forces, none will go unpunished." -Proverbs 16:5

"Pride foes before destruction, and a haughtily spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil of the proud." -Proverbs 16:18-19

"A haughty look, a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked are sin." -Proverbs 21:4

"A proud and haughty man- "Scoffer" is his name; he acts with arrogant pride." -Proverbs 21:24

"He who is of a proud heart stirs up strife, but he who trusts in the Lord will be prospered." -Proverbs 28:25

"I will punish the world for it's evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible." -Isaiah 13:11

"Hear and give ear: do not be proud, for the Lord has spoken." -Jeremiah 13:15

"There they cry out, but He does not answer, because of the pride of evil men." -Job 35:12

God talks about it over and over and over. We must assume, then, that it is of some importance to us, wouldn't you think?

Goodness, the times I've compared myself to others with a haughty heart saying how much better I am than them.

Examples:

"Well, *I* don't wear shorts that short."
"*I* don't watch TV very often"
"I can't believe they have tattoos"
"If it were *ME* raising that child, he would be so much better behaved!"
"That person has two holes in their ear, I'm glad I'm not that sinful"
"I'm home-schooled, which automatically makes me a better person than all those "public schooled" kids"
"Well, I might wear ____ but at least it not like *that*"
"I may only read my bible several times a week...but I bet they don't read theirs nearly as often"
"I cannot BELIEVE the kind of music they listen to! What kind of Christian would open their ears to that?"

You get the point...judging, then showing myself how much better *I* am than them by the standards of "Jessica". That is not Christ-like, and that is certainly not loving. God can and will use anyone for any means He wishes, and just because I don't agree with something does *not* mean I can't fellowship or do God's work with another person.

"For through the grace given to me I saw to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgement, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. For just as we have many members in one body and all members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly; if prophecy, according to the proportion of his faith; if service, in serving; or he who teaches, in his teaching; or he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good." -Romans 12:3-9

We each have our own convictions, some are more conservative than others, some are more liberal than others...but as long as we are brothers and sisters in Christ, we must love one another. This doesn't mean you have to lower/raise the standards you've been convicted of, it simply means we shouldn't be prideful of the things we do.

If I am to compare myself to anyone at all, it should be Christ. I need to look in the mirror...do I see *me* or do I see Jesus? If I am so full of myself that all I see in that mirror is myself, then I must get rid of things in my heart/life until all that's left is Jesus. Here's a video that has a good way of putting this.

I must remember that God loves a humble servant. If I am trying to be Christ like, then I have to remember how He humbled Himself to be a man on this earth, became a servant to others...and if I'm not humbling myself to do for others instead of myself, then I am wrong.

In Isaiah 14:13-14 is talks of the people saying "*I* will ascend into heaven," "*I* will exalt my throne above the stars of God." The moment we start using the words "I," "Me," or "us" instead of "God," "Him," or "Christ" then God will quickly cut us down to nothing. Viewing myself above everyone else *is* pride. And it *is* wrong.

Something my dad said I thought was very interesting. The words "pride" and "sin" both have the letter "I" right in the middle. Something to think about....

We are not "Super Christians" because we are more _____ than other people.

I serve a perfect God. One who has not even made one single mistake or sinned a single time. He is Holy, He is all-powerful, He is sovereign, He is all-knowing; He has no blemish or spot. I compare myself to others for a good feeling of how wonderful I am...now, the instant I compare myself to God, the Lord of Lords and King of kings...I find myself falling very, very short of anything at all. Why would someone so perfect give His life for someone like me, who has done nothing worthy of praise in my life? I've sinned against Him since the day I was born, I've had anger towards Him and other people. I think quite highly of myself, instead of thinking of my LORD as the only high one. The bible says God died for me because He LOVED me. A love so deep that He was willing to be mocked, ridiculed, spat upon, beaten then hung on a cross (which happens to be the most painful way of being killed.) He did all of this for *me* (us) He died for *me* (us) because of His never ending love for me. Even though I crucified Him with my sin. Then, He made a way for me be with Him in paradise someday. All I have to do is admit of being an unworthy sinner, and believe wholly and completely on Him and what He did for me. I don't have to do a list of things up until I die to deserve His gift like the worlds made up gods, I don't have to complete a survey or bow to a statue every day. I simply have to have faith in my Creator.

"Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He instructs the sinners in the way. He leads the humble in justice, and He teaches the humble His way." -Psalm 25:8-9