To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech. Proverbs 8:13
Not only does God resist those in pride, but those in pride also resist God. They will resist anything that comes against or challenges their choices and how they understand things.
Pride will make a man see a blue sky, know it’s a blue sky, but because he feels he is being forced, against his will to admit it’s blue, will defend that he sees different.
Pride will come to admit its flaws when there is no longer an accuser trying to make them change. When the accuser goes silent, pride will relax, maybe even let go and give humility a chance.
Sometimes those who confront sin and won’t let it go, are also in pride. They are driven by a self-righteousness that won’t allow them to be still in accusing and just trust God.
They can’t stand to not get their point of view across. They don’t care if they are hardening the heart more, and not representing God in humility, light or love. They are actually helping Satan keep hold of people. If they catch someone in a lie, feel like a fool, they MUST let that other person know they didn’t get away with it.
Two prideful people will tear each other apart as well as their family and home.
Pride is the reason people will perish, preventing them from turning back to God.
God’s will is for none to perish. But man has a choice. To be humble and follow Him. Denying self means to deny your will, your pride, your understanding and pick up your cross and follow into the suffering that happens when you let what YOU want to be surrender to what God wants.
The enemy snares a man through his pride.
He finds a person who is hurt and heals them by making them selfish and prideful. Teaches them how to control, manipulate, seduce and flatter. Teaches them to love to sow seeds of discord and strife.
He teaches them how to snare our spouses through flattering and seduction and false respect.
Do not boast so proudly, or let arrogance come from your mouth, for the LORD is a God who knows, and by Him actions are weighed. 1 Samuel 2:3
Our spouses are being given something that has been missing and deeply desired. Respect? Adoration? Feeling important? Wanted? Needed? Intelligent? Even support for their sins/addiction instead of condemnation. They are being loved unconditionally as a sinner and that love from the ungodly is telling them it’s ok to sin.
Pride keeps a man bound because they would rather perish than admit they were wrong. So, they make the sin right. They do everything they can to make it look good. Put effort into the new relationship they never put in with you. Care like they never cared before. They have to prove themselves. They must prove they did not make a mistake and show God, you and everyone else that was against them that they were not wrong.
If they don’t wake up and humble themselves, they are going to perish in their pride.
Recognize if your pride is enforcing their pride and humble yourself and zip the attitude. Stop pointing out, criticizing or acting self-righteously. Don’t look down your nose at them. They may lie to you, but they are really lying to God and He should be the one that handles it. Catching them in a lie, exposing it is for your pride and does not teach them a lesson; expect them to become better liars. But if you can give it to God, resist pride, you will grow in trust with God.
Standing with you,
Sheila Hollinger
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