Blind Pride

Verse of the Day: 1 Samuel 15:12, So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.”

One of the most dangerous sins that can enslave us is pride. Proverbs 16:18 warns, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Pride was the downfall of the most beautiful angel ever created. Ezekiel 28:17 tells us, “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground, I laid you before kings, that they might gaze at you.” In 1 Timothy 3:6 pride is called “the condemnation of the devil”. Throughout Kings Saul’s reign, we see him on that slippery slope downhill, as we begin to see his pride begin to bubble up, until it is overflowing and infecting his life like a cancer. The same man who hid himself when his promotion to king was being announced, in 1 Samuel 10:22, is now the man who is setting up monuments to himself. We must, at all cost, avoid falling into this trap. Far too many followers of Jesus, who start out as humble servants, allow the devils to convince them that they are more than they really are, simply because God has endowed them with talents and abilities that God is using for His glory. Romans 12:3 clearly warns, “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” Galatians 6:3 reminds us, “For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” King Saul, in allowing his pride to get the best of him, has now put himself in a position to be opposed by the LORD. James 4:6 clearly states, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Pride left unaddressed will lead to blindness. We become blind to who we really are. We become blind to who we are supposed to be in Christ. We become blind to the fact that who we are, as it concerns our talents and abilities, has everything to do with Jesus and His grace, and not us. We become blind to our arrogance. While we clearly see everyone else’s shortcomings and sin, we become blind to our own. King Saul was blinded by his pride. This is evident in verse 13, “Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, ‘Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD.’” He was blind to the fact that his “partial obedience” was “total disobedience”. Pride can be a very tricky sin. This is why it is so easy for the devils to steer us down this destructive path. Some of us have a tendency to think that our perspective on certain matters is always the correct perspective, and we have the verses to prove it. We become that person who we complain about, because no matter what you say to them, they are the ones who always have God’s perspective on a matter, regardless of what anyone says. These are the same Christians who then try to explain away why their “wise counsel” did not work the way they thought it would. “Satan is opposing me”, they exclaim! No, Satan is leading you! If we step back and discover that we have become that person, then we need to repent, confess it, and humble ourselves before God. Pride can disguise itself in many ways, and the only way to truly avoid it when dealing with others is found in Philippians 2:3, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.” Pride will not be able to penetrate our lives if we remind ourselves that as the LORD’s servants that, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) When the world begins to see more of us than more of Jesus, pride is creeping in. Let us be sober and vigilant to the devils’ tricks, keep our eyes on Jesus, and keep our attitudes humble so that we do not end up suffering from the effects of blind pride.

Today, God extends an invitation to you to accept His gift of salvation (Rom 6:23). Will you accept it? Anyone who calls on Jesus, by faith, in repentance, confessing your sins, will receive eternal life. Do not put off calling on Him, and receive Him and His gift of salvation today (Rom 10:13).