“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit along with the oppressed…” (Pro. 16:18-20) Consider this problem AMY, God has with pride, “…do you think Scripture says without reason that God JEALOUSLY LONGS for the spirit He has caused to dwell in us? But He gives us MORE GRACE. That is why Scripture says: “GOD OPPOSES THE PROUD but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:5-6) Pride is destructive for our soul and haughtiness will cause us to fall away from God. God opposes the proud. Our refusal to trust God AMY, to provide what we need, what He wants for us, and our insistence on getting what we want for ourselves is an act of pride. We are ATTEMPTING TO BE THE GOD OF OUR OWN LIVES. God will lovingly, JEALOUSLY (this is a godly jealousy) OPPOSE us when we do so. This word “oppose” or “resists.” The Greek is, antitassomai: which means, to range in battle against. OUR PRIDE is an indication that we are willingly facing God for a battle, we are going to be our own God and battle against the ONLY TRUE AND LIVING GOD! How do you think that will turn out???
Pride is when you consciously or unconsciously begin to believe that the universe REVOLVES AROUND YOU. This can lead to any type of deception followed by sin. True humility is GOD-CONSCIOUSNESS. Pride is SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS. So, God opposes the proud but gives GRACE to the HUMBLE. “…it is God who WORKS IN YOU GIVING YOU the DESIRE and the POWER to do HIS WILL.” (Phil. 2:13) So, GRACE IS, God working IN US, giving us the DESIRE and the POWER to do HIS WILL!!!
-Bill Stockham