God Resists the Proud
ICS Daily Devotions
James 4:6-7 (NKJV) But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
It is hard to stay humble when we are wealthy and lack nothing. Pride often appears as defiance and a sense of entitlement because our hearts are lifted before men and God. We tend to talk louder and give our opinions more boldly because we think we know better than others.
Deuteronomy 8:11-12 (NJKV) “Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgements, and His statutes which I command you today, lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them;
Why does God resist the proud? We become very self-centred when we are proud, and sin is self-centredness. God cannot be central to our lives when we are reliant on ourselves rather than on God. We will not listen to Him when we are proud—it is a blind spot in our lives—nor can anyone speak into our lives. God clearly stated in the above Scripture that pride would creep in once we have built beautiful houses, increased our resources, accumulated wealth, and eaten to the full, because we will think it is our power and abilities that have gained us this wealth!
When we are prosperous, our attitude toward people changes. We might even begin to treat our stay-at-home spouse differently by belittling them and using sarcasm in our words, especially those who are the sole breadwinners. We may no longer think that we need to be accountable to anyone, including our spouse, because money is power, and we may ignore our responsibilities to family members and take them for granted. This is the beginning of treating our spouse treacherously.
Malachi 1:8 (NKJV) And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favourably?” Says the Lord of hosts.
We must remember to honour God with our best. We are reminded to be dependent on Him daily through honouring Him. It is an act of worship which keeps us humble and anchored.
In the above Scripture, the people reserved the best for themselves, offering their governors better gifts to gain favours. They gave to God out of a guilty conscience, doing what was required of them. Their reluctance to give caused them to provide the lame, sick, and blemished offerings to God instead of honouring Him by worshipping Him with the unblemished lamb. They have forgotten that God had blessed them and given them the power to gain wealth. Similarly, we can also be forgetful, ungrateful, and proud when our hearts are lifted up.
We can be very selfish. Pride is about self-glorification. We can give God the glory with our mouths, but our hearts and actions are far from Him. However, God will resist us when we are proud and selfish. Therefore, pride is something we need to avoid because it alienates us from God.
Sermon Series: Stay Humble in His Presence
