“When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot Me…So I will be like a lion to them… I will attack them and rip them open… I will devour them…I will tear them apart” (Hos 13:6-8)
Pride is not easy to define. It means to be over-satisfied with your person, with your looks, position, gifts, success, possessions or knowledge. It means to be overly self-conscious. It is a sinful, distorted and wicked ‘happiness’ at the expense of all.
Someone said that pride is the AIDS of the soul. This sickness does not kill directly but it weakens the body. Other viruses take advantage if it and attack to kill. In the same way, pride weakens the soul and other sins come to parasite on it.
God blessed His people Israel. They became wealthy and strong. But in their satisfaction they became foolishly proud. They forgot the Giver of the gifts. Pride dwells in the flesh. We are born with it. But it becomes a monster when visible success comes in. We pray for financial breakthrough but rarely remember to pray for the grace to sustain such blessings. We should desire to become more humble, once God blesses us with wealth. The passion to remain humble in the midst of riches and good health is lacking in many hearts. They postpone the prayer for humility and wisdom in dealing with wealth and soon pride overpowers the soul. It is a poisonous weed that strangulates the heart. The relationship with God weakens to the point of backsliding. Slowly, sadly, the proud man forgets God. Practically he ignores the Bible, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, the habit of prayer and the church. Pride deceives the heart that all is well, even when God is angry. We easily forget that God is jealous. He will not share His throne or His glory with another. God will warn the sinner! If unrepentant, He will attack the proud and the ungrateful ‘like a lion’, suddenly and mortally. Pride leads to demotion, losing positions of leadership and authority. It damages and destroys governments, churches and marriages. Stubborn pride is like an incurable sickness and it leads to untimely death.
“God opposes the proud but He gives grace to the humble” (Jam 4: 6).

Pride is like a mental sickens. It poisons and deceives the heart. Before I gave my life to Christ, I thought that I was humble. This is because I did not like to dress with expensive clothes, I did not like to drive big cars…But ignorantly I was worshiping self; ‘my intelligence and good luck in life’. I did not believe in God and I was sure I did not need Him in my life. I was a successful woman, a medical doctor, married, with children. I was self-made and proud of it. In my foolish pride as an unbeliever I did not know that the death penalty was decreed upon my sinful soul. I did not know that it was only the mercy of God that sustained me. Then, in the year of God’s favor, the Holy Spirit came down on me. God came like a lion, like a leopard; like a wild bear robbed of her cubs…God confronted me and demanded total, unconditional surrender. He came to carry away His property. Every crumb of health and happiness was taken away from me…I argued in vain… No medicine could help… No human counsel worked… I still had my money but I lost the desire to spend it. I still had my marriage and children but I lost the desire to live. Except you are born again by the Spirit of God, you can never understand the terror of true repentance…Totally defeated by God’s sovereign grace, I used my last breath to call on the ‘strange’ name of Jesus, for the first time heard on my arrogant lips…JESUS…JESUS…JESUS…and so, the miracle of salvation happened…the blessed forgiveness came, and with it peace, joy, eternal life and the power to be a child of God! My pride died… myself I died…so that Christ can live and rule in me!

May we hear the warning of the Spirit! May we never forget God! May we be humble, wise, teachable and patient in the hands of God! May we be forever grateful for God’s blessings of salvation, health, wealth or the gift of a family! We are the clay and we can never be the Potter! May we accept the painful but loving chastisement of our Heavenly Father! May we never be tired to give God all the glory!

In Christ I declare:
I hate and reject pride!
I love to be humble like Jesus my Lord!
I die to self!
I receive God’s favor!
In Jesus name,
Amen!