I once had a co-worker sit down in my office and ask me the following question, “Is it a sin to tell my child that I am proud of them? Because God doesn’t like pride and I don’t want to instill pride within my children.”
Pride is a word that is used a lot in our culture. So let’s take a deeper look at it.
The Webster’s definition defines pride as the following
Pride
noun
- a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.
verb - be especially proud of (a particular quality or skill).
From a Biblical perspective, pride can be defined as elevating one’s opinions and thoughts above God’s authoritative Word.
We can see many examples within Scripture of how God both in the Old and New Testament talks about pride. Here’s just a few.
“Pride goes before destruction. And a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud.”
— Proverbs 16:18-19
“Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord.”
— Proverbs 16:5
“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and arrogance and the evil way.”
— Proverbs 8:13
“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these things come from within and defile a man.
— Mark 7:21-23
Alright, so we can establish that pride is an evil thing. Or at least if can be.
There are verses that speak of being proud and not in a bad way.
“Therefore we speak of you with pride among the churches of God for your steadfastness and your faith….
— 2 Thessalonians 1:4 AMP
So how can we distinguish good pride and bad pride? I want to go back even further to look at the very first prideful being. Because I believe that this is what God is talking about when He speaks of the evil of pride.
“For you have said in your heart,
I will ascend into heaven
I will exalt my thrown above the stars of God
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.”
— Isaiah 12:13-14
Did you see how many times I was in that statement? And how it was used? For context and those who may not know, this verse in Isaiah is about Lucifer who is more commonly known now as the devil or satan. He was the Lord’s most beautiful angel. But he became pretty full of himself. Arrogant. Prideful. He wanted to put himself higher than God, which obviously didn’t work out too well for him.
Now, in my opinion, going back to the question at the beginning of this post, I do not think it is a sin to say you are proud of something. It is not a sin for me to tell my daughters how proud I am of them and the incredible accomplishments they are doing. Or to tell my husband that I am proud of him and the incredible dad and husband he is. It’s not a sin for me to say I’m proud of my own accomplishments.
But here’s the kicker with being proud and turning it into being prideful. Am I elevating my accomplishments above God? Am I, like Lucifer, stating that I will be higher than He is? Am I putting my throne on top of the Lord’s?
That is where pride becomes sinful. That is the the arrogance and the haughtiness that God hates. Us elevating ourselves above the Creator that gave us everything even our abilities and not acknowledging Him, but praising ourselves.
We need to keep our pride in check so it doesn’t elevate to that egotistical level. Sometimes we need to swallow our pride and take a spoonful of humility.
I’m going to end on this verse in Romans to ponder and think over. It comes from the amplified version.
“For by the grace [of God] given to me I say to everyone of you not to think more highly of himself [and of his importance and ability] than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgement, as God has apportioned to each a degree of faith [and a purpose designed for service]”
— Romans 12:3 AMP
Be proud, but not prideful. Never forgetting the One who truly deserves the glory of all that we have done and the One that has given us those abilities.
angelaschmeling 