The Obstacle to Humility

Proverbs 6:16-19

Humility is a healthy, godly sense of our merits, talents, and achievements. In the life of the believer, one thing stands as an obstacle to humility—pride. To think of oneself above others is the exact opposite of the lowliness of mind that God calls us to demonstrate. Pride is deceitful in that we might not recognize it in our own heart. Even more dangerous is the person who can be proud on the inside and yet appear humble to others. But we cannot fool God.

Our Father hates pride because He knows its destructive power. When we are proud, what we're really saying is that we know better than God. He places pride— "haughty eyes"—at the top of the list of seven abominations. That doesn't mean that He hates the person who is prideful. God loves all of us; consequently, He despises anything that will harm us.

Pride blocks communication with God. When Jesus stood before King Herod, who had a reputation for being prideful, the Lord refused to answer the king's questions. (Luke 23:9) Likewise, we cannot come to God in pride and expect our prayers to answered. Our worthiness is not God's basis for considering our prayer requests; the fact of the matter is that we are not worthy. God instead responds to our need.

When we attempt to live in our own strength, we can expect God to ruin our successes (2 Chronicles 26), ridicule our schemes (Psalms 2:1-5), and remove our status (Daniel 5). He wants us to renounce our pride before it destroys us.