James 4:6 God opposes the proud but gives Grace to the humble.
What is pride
Pride in this context is focusing on the negative aspect of pride described here by the writer as defiance against the principles and standards established by God through His word the Bible. By this I mean unwillingness to submit to godly standards because we believe that our own ideas, expertise, knowledge, established principles and standards are more superior than what God is asking us to do. We believe in Him but do not accept Him as supreme in our lives. However, the Bible stated that the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger that human strength. 1 Corinthians 1:25 Therefore, a wise person will trust God rather than him/herself.
It is also a way of thinking deeply embedded and internal to a person who perceives his being as the center of the universe and therefore has no need of God. Although the person proclaims to be a child of God, but the individual has decided not to obey the word of God and will not accept anything to the contrary. Does this sound like you/me? The person has an unreasonable and outrageous sense of self-importance that manifests itself through prideful actions like arrogance, boasting, high mindedness and inability to accept corrections even when outrightly wrong. The person’s ideas and opinions are always the best which is anti-God. The apostle Paul cautioned us against pride that will hamper brotherly and sisterly relationships in the body of Christ and encouraged us to think moderately of ourselves which will avoid inflated ego in the church.
Romans 12:3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
Why did the word of God Condemn pride?
“Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure†(Psalm 101:5) and “In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek Him; all his thoughts are, ‘There is no God’†(Psalm 10:4). Pride was condemned by God because a prideful spirit is in opposition to a heart that loves God. In pride you say that you are your god and will not empty yourself so that God your father will take the rightful position of control over your life. You do not submit to His will because you prefer to do your will. You are not attending to your calling to bring His will to pass but attending to grab all the fame and money that is possible. The ministry is not about the Lord Jesus who died for us and gave us the gifting and opportunity to serve Him and who actually should be the center of the ministry. But it is about you and what you want to see irrespective of what God says to you. Familiar? The ministry should revolve around Him and the principles that He established in the Bible.
In the body of Christ, we are called to love fellow believers, but a proud heart will find it hard to love, not Love, the Feeling, but actively loving fellow believers. This is because instead of loving others, the person will be unkind, judgmental, bitter, and uncaring in his thoughts, actions, and speeches because the person is not seeking to please God but seeking to please himself in God’s own house therefore God opposes the proud. James 4:6 God opposes the proud but gives Grace to the humble. It is like the son of a king who likes to take the throne of his father in His kingdom. He hates to obey the rules and regulations established by the king. When people come to see his father the king, he exalts himself so highly and lowers the position of his father, the king which tends to obscure the position of the king. The king will of course be opposed to that kind of son. The devil did the same thing and see where he ended up and will indeed end in eternity with unrepentant prideful people in hell. In the bible we saw examples of God humbling those who exalt themselves like Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:20-37
Overcoming Pride:
The first step in overcoming pride is detecting the presence of pride in our hearts and repent of it. If you do not know whether you are a proud person, ask God to expose any element of pride in your heart and you might be surprised at what God might help you to understand. Once you ask sincerely, the Holy Spirit will expose it one of the days when you start thinking, acting, or speaking in pride. Humbly accept His conviction of the sin of pride and humbly ask Him to help you overcome it. Study the word of God and know what God says about humility which is the opposite of pride, and He loves the humble and gives them the grace to serve and please Him.
The Lord Jesus is an example of humility and please remember that humility is not timidity. Humility is having an informed knowledge of your choices, but you deliberately decide to choose the ones that will please God even though that is not what you might want for that situation. But because you believe that God is supreme, and God’s wisdom supersedes yours, you make a choice that the Holy Spirit is leading you to make. Also, you live your life according to God’s principles as espoused in the Bible and you depend on the grace of our Lord Jesus and the help of the Holy Spirit to help you do this. By prayer and studying the word, you will grow in relationship with God as He continues to transform our hearts to love Him.
The Lord Jesus is a perfect example of humility as seen in Philippians 2:6-8. “Though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.†The Lord Jesus is God and He humbled himself by becoming a man, suffered on the cross and paid the ultimate price of death on the cross so that He can reconcile us with God. His action was driven by His love for us, and he humbled himself to serve and achieve the purpose of God in Salvation.
Continuing in Victory over pride:
The Christian walk is a continuous and progressive process and as we continue to submit to the Holy Spirit, He will help us to maintain victory over pride and over every other sin. If we fall let us rise and continue the journey for, He that loves us is faithful and will work in us to will and to do of his good pleasure by His Grace, once we have a willing and submissive heart. Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
May God help us to overcome the sin of pride in the Mighty Name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
